


Mars Needs Mates

by Winged_Wolf_Tsuki



Category: Biker Mice From Mars
Genre: F/M, Rating May Change, Romance, Swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-02
Updated: 2017-10-28
Packaged: 2018-07-19 14:20:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 88,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7364911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Winged_Wolf_Tsuki/pseuds/Winged_Wolf_Tsuki
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Modo and the rest of the Bmfm gang meet down on her luck aspiring ballerina/dancer Chair and chaos ,calamity ,humor heartbreak and romance ensue (I don't go easy on anybody and while there is humor, happiness and fluff. There will also be some messed up disturbing moments. If you do decide to come along. hang on your in for a hell of a ride) "you have been warned" Modo/Oc romance.{ work in progress}</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1 (Fur-st Encounters)

**Author's Note:**

> Hi There! (W.W.T) here with one of those fun little public service announcements we like to call Author’s Notes- Ok first things first in the written words of countless new fanfic authors before me. It’s my first time so please be gentle .That’s right this is in fact the first fanfic I’ve ever posted. I’ve been an active member of the fanfiction community for years. But outside of a handful of reviews here and there I’ve never actually put any of my own writings into it until now. Not that I haven’t had ideas wild plot bunnies running rampant and what not. To quote the Mad Hatter Its awfully crowded in here. Just that I have always been too self-conscious to actually try posting any of them before this one and to be honest I’m still nervous but I love this character and this story and just couldn’t get them out of my head so here it is. This story features Modo and an Oc of mine called Chair and is the start of a series of fics I’m planning called Mars needs Mates although this will probably be the only one of them to feature that as the main title.  
> Also before we get started my oc's name odd as it may seem is not a typo. You read it right and she is in fact named Chair.( I have my reasons)Also I just want to say that Chairs weight is Not I, repeat Not a character flaw. Chair has plenty of flaws but her weight is not one of them. Although the majority of her personal faults and doubts do stem from how she see's herself and how she perceives others see her as well whether she realizes it or not. This story takes place in a slight AU its set in the 90s cartoon but I've moved it more into our current time period I may also borrow one or two things from the 2006 show but it will mostly be based on the original cartoon since that's the one I fell in love with first myself.  
> Disclaimer: As much I love the BMFM. I don’t own them aside from a few comics and some of the vhs’s .The Oc’s and the story itself are mine along with any Grammatical or spelling errors contained within it. I make no money from this and it is for entertainment purposes only.

Chair Italy Noble stared forlornly down into the contents of her refrigerator. But no amount of closing and opening the door coupled with wishful thinking had done anything to change the sorry lack of edible items on the nearly deserted shelves inside.  
Chair heaved and exaggerated sigh using the extra air to puff raggedy honey blond bangs in serious need of a trim out of her eyes before closing the door for the third time that morning and leaning her forehead against the smooth and slightly sticky exterior.  
(Ewe! Note to self-buy cleaning supplies) she thought. Chair pried eyes that felt gritty with sleep apart .Heaving yet another sigh as she turned shifting her weight to the side and leaning her hip up against the outside of the fridge.  
Chair tipped her head back slightly worrying her bottom lip with her teeth while staring up at the cracked and peeling nicotine stained ceiling of the one room apartment, she had somehow managed to scrape just enough together for a down payment and the first month's rent on.  
Chair couldn't help thinking that whoever had rented this place before her must have had a serious chain smoking problem, and she didn't even want to think about the mystery stains on the carpet or the perpetually rust/blood colored ring staining the sink in the bathroom.  
That in place of a door had a shabby moth riddled old throw stretched between two nails hung over the front of the cracked an splintered door frame. In an attempt to lend at least a modicum of privacy to the single toilet and stand up shower stale (sans shower head) that where somehow crammed together into the matchbox sized space.  
Giving an internal shrug. (Well beggars can't be choosers)Chair thought as she walked across the small single room living space. That even with her lack of personal items and furnishings still somehow managed to look cramped.  
Frowning slightly Chair bent down to scoop up a faded flower print change purse. That had been sitting on top of a medium sized card board box she had turned on its side to double as a bookshelf /night stand for a handful of old paper backs, and a battery powered clock radio.  
Situated on the floor next to the twin mattress Chair had gotten second hand, the same day she'd managed to land the apartment.  
Chair unsnapped the little clutch slowly counting the handful of Bills inside.( No beggars really couldn't be choosers) Chair thought again. Pursing her lips as she examined the meager contents of the purse and that's exactly what she was going to be. Chair thought grimacing if she didn't manage to land a job soon.( Homeless and begging.)  
Giving herself a little mental shake Chair looked up from her brief appraisal of her spares financial assets.  
“Well no help for it now” she said out laud. Snapping the clutch on the little bag shut with an audible click.  
Chair continued to speak out loud “Alright first things first,”  
“or well at least food things first. Freak out about looming financial crisis later” she said.  
Walking over and bending down to snag her truck keys off the cracked and slightly shredded duct tape covered seat of the brown fold out chair she had set next to the door while stepping into on a cheap pair of black slip ons.  
Chair paused for a moment to twist her shoulder length curls into a quick bun that she hoped with the current humidity didn't too closely resemble a frizzy bird's nest glancing down at herself to make sure she was presentable considering she'd slept in what she was wearing.  
Snorting to herself, Chair supposed she was at least presentable enough to grab some groceries from the little mom and pop store she'd seen coming into the neighborhood yesterday afternoon. Right before lugging her new/ used mattress up two flights of stairs by herself. (ugh!) It was a wonder she hadn't thrown her back out or pulled something.  
Chair noted she had on a relatively clean pink spaghetti strap tank top and bleach splattered knee length jean shorts, her fly was up and there weren't any visible holes in embarrassing places.( Eh good enough )she thought shrugging.  
Before stepping out into the muggy and slightly mold scented air of the stairway corridor. Chair briefly contemplated switching out her tank top for one of the t-shirts still packed up in the old duffle bag she had neglected to unpack yet.  
But quickly changed her mind as she started down the stairs sweat already threating to begin beading up on her neck and chest.  
At Barley five Ft. two and a hundred and sixty five pounds people sometimes had a tendency to give Chair crap for wearing some of the warm weather tops she had in her wardrobe.  
But as far as Chair was concerned though, the same bigoted jerks that were under the misbegotten impression,  
that just because she was more amply endowed than some Chair should dress more conservatively were more than welcome to get together in a single file line to kiss her dimpled ass.  
With Chicago currently going through one of the worst heat waves anyone could remember in the last ten years. Chair had no intention of making herself miserable by putting on more layers.  
If people didn't like what they saw they could ether get over themselves or start looking the other damn way. Chair was short round and more than a little pear shaped and she knew it.  
Chair didn't see why she had to be hot and miserable to. What? Just so she could protect a few asinine people's stereotypical views about what fashion choices were acceptable for whose body type. (Fat chance) Chair thought with a self-depreciative chuckle.  
Pulling herself from her mental musings Chair jiggled the keys in her hand as she finished descending the last three steps leading out of her new apartment complexes door.  
Before heading in the direction of the curb were she had parked her old 1965 powder blue f100 ford pickup, Stepping down off the sidewalk ledge and running her hand across the mildly dented hood on her way to the driver's side door.  
With the temps charting mostly in the 90s even during the relatively cooler parts of the day Chair considered herself lucky to have landed a spot in the shade.  
She paused and flipped through her key ring for a moment before finding the one she wanted .(I really need to take these others off this thing) Chair thought as she stared at the extra keys that had belonged to her Great Grandfathers old dance studio and the apartment located above it.  
Deep down Chair new she really wasn't ready to do it though in the past six months Chair had already had to say goodbye to her Gee-gee the man who had practically raised her, as well as the studio she had more or less grown up in and the only real home she could really remember having.  
Chair new she just wasn’t ready to let go of that last little memento of her former life yet. Finding herself suddenly misty eyed as she thought about it.  
Chair quickly palmed the remainder of keys on the ring putting the one for her truck in the lock turning it then pulling up on the handle frowning when nothing happened and the key stuck.  
Chair jiggled the key a bit in the lock tugging once before giving the already dinged and slightly scrapped section of metal next to the heavily scratched door lock a firm tap, with the palm of her hand smiling as the old truck door popped open.  
Chair hauled herself up into the leather and dust scented tan interior of the cab simultaneously pulling the door shut behind her.  
Chair placed her key in the ignition and mentally crossed her fingers as she turned it biting her lip ,as it sputtered and coughed before finally turning over.  
Giving a sigh of relief Chair quite worrying her lip and let the breath she'd been holding out in a quick puff.  
“Theirs my good girl” she said grinning toothily while giving the dash an affectionate pat, before pulling down and briefly wrestling with the persnickety seat belt finally clicking it into place with a little muttered gotcha”.  
Reaching up to re adjust the rearview mirror Chair briefly caught a glimpse of her own sea green eyes and perspiration dampened forehead before angling it so she could see to back up safely.  
Chair couldn't remember moving it, but she must have caught it the other evening when she was taking her duffle out to go up to the apartment.  
She'd been exhausted after hauling the mattress up the steps to the building and the adjacent staircase.  
Chair was honestly just happy she had remembered to lock the truck door before heading up the stairs to her new place where she had ended up lying face down on the bare (but thankfully clean) mothball scented mattress and promptly passing out.  
Chair had been so tired she had slept straight through the night and well into midmorning, when she'd been awakened by her stomachs laud and painful protesting of her neglect the previous day.  
With all the apartment arrangements and the moving itself Chair had put grabbing something to eat on the back burner, and the strawberry poptart and red Gatorade she'd snagged on the way to pick up her mattress the morning before were well and truly gone.  
Chair could have kicked herself for it now but her mind hadn't really been on basic living supplies food or otherwise the day before. Most of her energy and focus having been put solely into the act of getting moved in the first place.  
Chair flinched as her stomachs gnawing gurgles started up again as she pulled out onto the mostly deserted street. Heading in the direction of the little corner market she'd seen the other day, sending up a brief prayer that they were still in business since a good portion of the buildings and old shops she was passing seemed to be boarded up closed for renovations or just plain abandoned.  
Passing a small diner with some signs of life Chair briefly entertained the idea of stopping to enjoy something already prepared .Her stomach letting out a warbling growl in agreement audible even over the noise of the blue fords knocking engine.  
Sighing Chair pulled her gaze away and back to the road ahead she really couldn't afford to stretch her already thin budget further than it already was, She'd just have to suck it up In this case that meant trying to make what was left in her wallet and nearly depleted savings account last until she could find some work that actually paid for a change.  
At 26 with no further education on paper other than high school, nearly broke. No job or really any applicable job skills outside of a potentially failed career as a Ballet dancer.  
Chair found she really didn't like her odds right now. She did have over ten years' experience as an assistant dance instructor and yoga coach, but Chair honestly wasn't even sure if she could even use that Since she technically had only been helping at her Great Grandfather's studio and had never really drawn a paycheck for it.  
“Yeah Chair girl you've really got a lot going for yourself” she mused out loud. While carefully steering around an exceptionally large sized pothole almost dead in the center of the lane she was on.  
Chair furrowed her brow as she pulled into the parking lot of the little Grocers simply titled Manual’s.  
Chair didn't remember the streets being quite this bad even a week ago when she'd first started looking for an apartment she could actually afford.  
Honestly some of the places she had just passed looked like they could have been part of a war zone Chair thought as she pulled open the door to the little shop sighing in relief as she walked into the air conditioned interior.  
(OH gad!) That cool air felt like heaven after being in the near roasting temperatures outside.  
“Hello” Chair called walking a bit further into the quant and almost homey feeling shop.  
“Hola one moment porfavor I'll be with you in just a second” a slightly Latin accented male voice called from behind a row of light green painted shelves located deeper in the store .  
Still only a few steps from the door Chair let her gaze wander around some of the various goods on display before finding her gaze drawn to a well lite bin of fresh fruit and produce that included some of the biggest reddest apples Chair thought she had ever laid eyes on.  
Of course that could just be her stomachs influence affecting her perception she thought riley as it let out another series of audible growls and irritated sounding gurgles.  
Her favorite fruit aside Chair new she needed to focus on getting the essentials first. Maybe after figuring up a total for everything she'd see about adding some apples to her intended purchases.  
A loud series of bangs and thumps followed by what she was fairly certain was an expletive in Spanish pulled Chairs attention back to the rear of the store.  
“Is everything ok?” She called taking a few hesitant steps further towards the center of the store. Bouncing back and rocking a bit on the heels of her feet Chair waited another moment for a response.  
Not receiving one she continued in the direction. Where she had last heard the sounds originate from walking past a series of similarly painted green shelves making a mental note of the top ramen on the upper left hand side of the second to last one.  
(Well that's the location of at least one thing on my list) Chair thought as she rounded the corner of the last shelf, only to draw up short at the sight that greeted her on the other side.  
“Holey Marinara batman” she muttered stepping around a fast spreading slick of tomato sauce that was creeping across the floor in front of her.  
Eyes widening Chairs gaze followed the bright red trail back across the scuffed tile floor to a pair of brown and sauce spattered work boots attached to the feet of a slight built Hispanic man.  
Who was trying earnestly to hold up a collapsing section of a shelving unite that was rapidly spilling its former contents all over the floor including a large number of glass pasta sauce jars.  
Chair stood in place for a moment while her mind processed the situation and mess in front of her blinking a bit as her brain attempted to kick back into gear.  
Oh my word! Chair exclaimed loudly finally coming back to herself.  
Hoping over the worst of the spill Chair quickly made her way over towards the man.  
“Uhm! one second let me just” she said trailing off while grabbing the opposite end of the falling shelf parallel of him straining to keep anymore of the contents from taking a swan dive like their unfortunate predecessors.  
“Madre de Dios!” exclaimed the man as he attempted to re align the section of shelf with the notch it seemed to have slipped off of.  
Turning his head in chairs direction while trying to keep his upper body rigid to prevent any further spills the man locked eyes with her.  
“Gracias thank you if you could just hold it up a tad higher and angle it a bit to the right I think I can slip it back into place without anything else falling” he said.  
“Oh...uh of course” Chair said looking back at the shelf and trying to re adjust her grip so she could angle it the desired amount to the best of her abilities.  
Straining to lift the heavy and awkwardly balanced plank of wood Chair was momentarily distracted by a movement off to the side of the Shelf.  
But before she could turn fully to try and catch a better glimpse at whatever it was her attention was pulled back to the task at hand.  
When with a triumphant “I've got it! “The man across from her slid the cumbersome shelf back into place with a click.  
Sighing in relief while giving her upper arms a little rub Chair turned giving the area to the side of the shelving unite a sweeping glance.  
Before turning back to the man with a puzzled expression on her face “Hey you.. Didn't see anything odd just a second ago did you?’ she asked looking up in time to catch the mild widening of the man's eyes and flare of his nostrils.  
“Ah! Odd no No! Nothing out of the ordinary” He said quickly flinching slightly when one of the jars on the recently placed shelf rolled off onto the floor with a resounding crack.  
“That is if you don't count a large portion of my inventory decorating my isle” he said forlornly while glancing around at the floor and the ever spreading pool of sauce.  
Chair wasn't sure she would have called the oddly spaced section of tile between the larger and smaller shelving unites an isle herself. But she could definitely agree that there was a substantial mess and probably hefty profit loss staining the floor around them.  
In all honesty part of Chair just wanted to leave the man she was starting to suspect was Manual to sort out the mess himself. Walk back out the door jump into her truck and find the next nearest convenience store and possibly MacDonald's.  
She was tired hot, hungry and slightly worried she was starting to hallucinate because she could have half sworn she had just seen a white fur covered snake slither back behind the shelf they had just been wrestling with.  
But even with how appealing heading out the door at that moment seemed .Chair already new that wasn't what she was going to do.  
Her Gee-gee had taught her better than that In fact Chair could almost hear his voice in her head telling her.  
" You don't stop helping someone just because something becomes difficult and you don't want to do it anymore. If that was the way of it no one would ever help anyone in this world and just were would that leave us?"  
yeah Gee-gee would have boxed her ears (metaphorically at least) if she just walked out without at least offering to help Chair thought with a smile, as she turned her gaze back to the small ocean of red glop spreading before her.  
“Uhm..”Chair hedged for a moment wrinkling her nose at the mess.  
“ Do..uh..do you need any help cleaning this up?” She asked looking up at the man/Manual/maybe? In order to judge his reaction.  
“Oh no it's fine I'll…” the man said pausing midway eyes going wide.  
“ I mean Si! SI! Yes! Your help would be most appreciated cleaning!” he finished half shouting at the end.  
Chair just then felt a slight breeze ruffle the hair at the nap of her neck turning she thought she herd the swish of the shop door as well.  
But she was just short enough she couldn't see it from her position standing behind the green shelves.  
“Err.. Well ok?” Chair said confusedly turning back towards the noticeably less agitated Man before her.  
“Where do you keep the cleaning supplies?” She asked brightly.  
One hour two buckets of Mop water, four rolls of paper towels and six Band-Aids from the first aid kit later. Chair was convinced of three things.  
One she was an overly kind idiot.  
two as hungry as she was she still never wanted to see another bowl of spaghetti in her life,  
and three on top of already being an idiot She was also a clumsy idiot.  
Who apparently couldn't handle sweeping relatively dull edged glass shards into a dust pan without injuring herself.  
Chair muttered that last part to herself as she finished wrapping her right index finger with a light beige adhesive strip.  
Before packing the remaining supplies back into the kit on the counter in front of the Balling up wrappers and waxy pieces left over from the adhesive strips in her hand Chair handed the first aid kit back to the friendly Hispanic man she had learned was in fact Manual.  
Then dropping the crumpled up bits of wrapper into the black garbage bag they had been tossing used paper towels into along with the shattered and cracked marinade jars during the course of their cleaning spree.  
“Well I think that was the last of it” Chair said tiredly glancing around while reaching up to brush her bangs out of her eyes flinching slightly when her sore fingers gave a twinge.  
Bringing her arm back down and letting her hands rest on her hips. Chair breathed in deeply before exhaling with a pleased whoosh.  
“All righty then” she exclaimed with a more upbeat tone of voice than what she was actually feeling.  
Chair turned back to face Manual as he stood up from putting the first aid kit back in its former place under the register counter.  
“ Need me to run this stuff out to the dumpster for you?” she asked gesturing to the lumpy plastic bag with a waggle of her bandage tipped fingers.  
“Oh no” exclaimed Manual.  
“you've already done more than enough” He said with a grateful smile walking back around the counter.  
Manual bent down over the plastic bag tying the top with a quick twist of his wrist before hefting it up over his shoulder with a slightly musical clink from the jars inside. Standing up and looking back up at Chair Manual smiled at her good naturedly again.  
“Why don't you gather up those items you needed while I run this out back he said Heading for the door” he said  
“Sounds like a good plan to me” Chair said with relieved smile.  
Happy to finally be doing what she had set out to do that morning Chair snagged one of the brightly colored hand baskets from a stack near the register before heading in the direction of some of the less expensive food items she'd seen while cleaning (the great tomato spill).  
By passing the apples with a longing stare Chair made her way over to where she had seen the top ramen.  
(Food of choice for underappreciated starving artists and students everywhere) she thought wryly. Placing a couple packs of the cheaper chicken flavored packs of dehydrated noodles in the bottom of the basket slung over her arm.  
Chair paused noticing a small hand written sign stating that all smashed and partially crushed packages were half off the original price. Looking back at the noodles she perused the remaining packs with a more critical eye finding three more packs of slightly crushed beef noodle packs for her efforts.  
Chairs resisted the little voice in the back of her head that suggested she take advantage of Manuals absence and crush some of the undamaged packs in order to stretch her dollar further.  
She may have spent the last hour busting her tush to help out But Chair new that didn't mean she was entitled to take advantage of Manuals trust like that.  
With a twinge of guilt for even having the thought Chair quickly moved away from the ramen, and began checking prices on a couple boxed skillet meals located a little further down on the same shelf.  
Wrinkling her nose quizzically at the picture of a smiling hand on the front Chair rotated the box to read the ingredient list while absently wondering about the number of calories in it before catching herself.  
“Screw it” she muttered throwing a handful of the lower priced boxes into the basket next to the ramen with an angry jerk of her hand.  
Nearly 8 months since her last audition and she was still counting calories out of habit.  
(Well you are what you eat) she thought moodily “and unfortunately junk is cheap” Chair said finishing the thought out loud as she made her way towards the clear glass cooler doors to try and find an affordable protein to add to her meager provisions.  
Skimming over the available selection before settling on a small carton of eggs and a package of hotdogs.  
Chair wasn't completely sure about the Hotdogs weren't really something she had ever included in her regular diet.  
But they were relatively in expensive and Chair thought they might at least help add some variety to her meals.  
Finished with her selections and secure in the knowledge that she at least wouldn't starve in the upcoming days. Chair headed back towards the cash register at the front of the store hesitating for a moment as she passed the produce bin.  
Feeling her eyes almost pulled towards the apples as her stomach reminded her of its displeased state with a gurgling roll Chair did a Quick mental tally of the items in her basket against the amount of cash in her purse flinching a bit at the total.  
It was going to be cutting things close as it was she had to accept the apples just weren't something she could feasibly add. With a sad sigh of defeat Chair pulled herself away from the temptation of the fresh fruit.  
Continuing on her path towards the register, were she noted Manual had returned from his trip to throw out the trash.  
Smiling in greeting Chair set the basket on the counter across from him. “I think that should just about do it” she said beginning to remove the items from the handcart.  
With a small chuckle Manual began setting the items into a brown paper bag he pulled from the storage space beneath the counter.  
“ Ready to finally be heading out I take it” He said.  
“Gad Yes!” Chair said with a laugh.  
“ Nothing personal against you Manual but this morning is honestly starting to turn into a long day” she finished with a smile.  
“No offense taken” Manual said with an answering grin setting the last item into the bag then sliding the sack and its contents across the counter with a crinkling rustle of paper towards Chair.  
“Will that be everything Ms. Chair?” He asked.  
Chair resisted the urge to turn around and stare at the apples again Smiling over at Manual as she answered.  
“That should be it” Chair said reaching into her pocket for the change purse she used in place of a wallet.  
“How much do I owe you?” Chair asked clicking open the clutch on the little floral print bag.  
“Please” Manual said holding up his hand.” it's on me for all your help”.  
Chair hesitated a moment with her hand over the top of the open bag she wouldn't have consider herself a saint by any means and Chair would have been lying if she said she wasn't more than a little tempted to accept.  
With things as tight as they were for her financially at the moment the offer of free food was a hard one to turn down. But knowing the loss Manual had probably just taken What with the entire isle of busted inventory they had both just cleaned up. Chair couldn't in good conscious bring herself to take him up on it.  
“I appreciate the offer “Chair said mentally kicking herself for turning him down.  
“But I insist on paying” she finished pulling out a handful of slightly crumpled bills.  
Ten minutes of friendly debate and stubborn insistence on both hers and Manuals part later. Chair gathered up the bag of groceries that she was still not completely convinced Manual had charged her full price on and headed for the door calling a brief thank you and farewell to the friendly store clerk over her shoulder.  
Chair turned back towards the door just in time to narrowly avoid being plowed down by the petite auburn haired women that came flying through it.  
“Alright where is He?!” The women said vehemently stepping around Chair and making a beeline for Manual.  
“Ah..Hola Buenas tardese Ms. Davidson ..Where is who?” Manual asked sending a nervous glance towards Chair.  
Chair found herself trying to decide whether or not to remain and offer some form of back up for Manual, from the small but intimidating denim clad women or simply wash her hands of this whole odd day and just leave.  
Chairs attention was drawn back to the women in question agan, as she stood in front of the counter arms crossed one foot tapping in agitation as she looked around the small store as if she expected something or someone to suddenly jump out from behind one of the shelves or bins.  
“Call me Charley please and you know who Vinnie, tall Loud.. Ego the size of Chicago” the women finished dryly continuing to look around with an irritated scowl on her face.  
“Ah I see” said Manual relaxing slightly.  
“Senior Vincent was here earlier this morning but he left some time ago and he hasn't returned that I am aware of” finished Manual.  
“You're sure? He's not around back or anything?” The women/Charley asked her voice suddenly taking on a more worried tone, from the previous annoyed one.  
Chair really just wanted to get back to her apartment but she wasn't really sure whether or not she should just go and leave Manual with the distraught women or not.  
“I don't remember seeing anyone in the store while I've been here other than Manual an myself.” Chair spoke up from where she had been hesitating next to the doorway.  
“yes ..he left right before you arrived Ms. Chair” Manual said his fingers tapping out a nervous rhythm against the light wood of the register counter.  
The women glanced over at Chair with a mildly surprised look on her face ether not having noticed chair when she came in or not expecting anyone else to be taking part in the conversation other than herself and Manual.  
“That was well over two hours ago” Chair said switching her gaze from Manual back to the women(Charley she supposed).  
“I don't know if that's any help or not” Chair said shifting the bag of groceries she was holding to a more comfortable position and meeting the women's curious gaze.  
“Uhm Hi I'm Chair” she said awkwardly.  
Panicking slightly when the Women continued to stare at her oddly Chair thrust her hand out into the air for a handshake she was currently spaced too far away for.  
Mentally kicking herself for making the situation weirder (Gad my people skills suck )Chair thought ,as she waited what felt like a ridiculously long period of time with her arm sticking straight out in front of her for the woman standing a good four-five feet away to shake.  
Just when Chair was trying to figure out how to play off the botched hand shake .The women with a slightly bemused expression moved forward the last few feet to take it.  
“Charley” she said giving Chairs hand a quick pump. “  
Chair was it she asked?” Giving Chair a quizzical look that she had become familiar with when it came to introducing herself for the first time.  
“Yes” Chair said with a relieved chuckle happy the handshake fiasco was out of the way.  
“and it's spelled exactly the same way as the piece of furniture to) Chair finished with a smile.  
Charley grinned back at her good naturally “well considering most people know me as Charley Davidson you won't hear any ribbing about it from me personally” Charley said with a small laugh.  
Before slowly turning back to Manual with a worried frown, “Your absolutely positive he hasn't been here for that length of time Manual?”  
“No Ms. David..I mean Ms. Charley” Manual amended quickly.  
“I'm certain he hasn't” Manual said sporting a mildly worried look on his face as well.  
“If you don't mind me asking Chair said drawing Charley's attention back to her, Just what exactly does this fellow of yours look like?” Chair asked.  
“Trust me you'd know if you'd seen him” Charley said wryly before glancing back towards Manual.  
“Thanks anyway Manual if he comes back here just.. let him know we were looking for him” She said sighing before walking towards the door.  
Hesitating with her hand on the glass above the handle she turned back,  
“And let him know if he wasn't in trouble to begin with then he's going to be when he does get back” Charley said with vigor over her shoulder.  
Before pushing the door open and heading out into the bright sunshine of the outside world.  
Chair stared after her briefly stunned by the abrupt whirlwind of activity and energy the women had swept in and out of the store with.  
Blinking owlishly Chair re-adjusted her gradually heavy-ing bag for what must have been the fourth or fifth time before remembering herself and calling a quick farewell again to Manual while making her own hasty departure from the store.  
Stepping back into the sweltering heat of the day Chair immediately began digging in her pocket for her keys ready to get back to her apartment before anything else weird happened to her.  
Glancing up while pulling out her keys Chair felt the paper bag slip from her suddenly numb grip only to land with a thwack against the pavement next to her feet.  
Vaguely aware somewhere in the back of her mind that she had stopped walking Chair stood completely still her keys dangling from her clinched fingers.  
As her brain tried in vain to process the seen playing out in front of her as a bunch of leather clad and spike haired men in what looked like( dune buggies?) duked it out with a group of bikers not even a full twenty feet in front of her.  
Chair continued to watch with an almost detached sense of disbelief as the women she had just meet moments before road past on the back of a red bike toting what appeared to be (a rocket launcher?)  
Watching as the women (Charley), Chairs addled brain supplied, watching as Charley took aim and fired into the mist of the group of leather clad punk rockers sending a large portion of their vehicles skyward as the rider of the red bike continued to weave in and out of them at break neck speed.  
(She's a pretty good shot) Chair thought distantly a feeling of unreality washing over her as she continued to watch the battle before her.  
(I'm dreaming) She thought.  
( I must have fallen asleep watching the twilight zone or something last night) which Chair supposed would have been feasible except she didn't currently own a TV and that show hadn't been on the air in at least ten years or more.  
Chair watched detachedly as a tire from one of the dunbuggie like vehicles bounced across the parking lot directly in front of her before forcefully slamming into the side of her truck with a resounding thud.  
Leaving a watermelon sized dent in the already dinged door before spinning around and coming to rest at her feet.  
Chair continued to stare at the tire as if it was suddenly going to come up with answers for what was happing in front of her.  
Still gazing detachedly at the tire several minutes later Chair suddenly found herself Airborne.  
Her empty stomach doing a flip as she was whipped sideways just in time to narrowly avoid being waylaid by the large man in overalls who suddenly came flying through the space she had been occupying only a moment before.  
Chair’s ears registered the sound of him connecting with the wall of the store with a meaty sounding smack a spider web of cracks appearing around him.  
Chairs hands clutched around her middle briefly making contact with whatever was wrapped around her waist.  
She had just enough time to register the feel of python like muscle coated in something soft before it pulled away. Leaving her trying to balance like a newborn giraffe on legs suddenly turned to jelly.  
“It might be best if you went back inside for a bit Ma'am” a Baritone voice said from slightly to her left.  
Chair turned to the side and looked up, then up some more and felt what little that was left of her wits go out the window.  
Chair didn't know what she had been expecting but it certainly wasn't the behemoth stepping down from the blue bike that had rolled up next to her,  
(or was it up?) Chair vaguely wondered he was definitely taller standing up Chair thought craning her neck back to look at him.  
Almost in a daze Chair realized he was still talking to her but she was still trying to work out how he could have ridden that bike up next to her without her at least hearing it.  
“Ma'am? Um hello Ma'am? You ok?”  
Chair blinked slowly her ears vaguely processing the words as a hand passed in front of her face repeatedly as she continued to stare up at the imposing Male.  
(well he's certainly built )A little feminine voice in the back of her head piped up noting the impressive six-pack he was sporting under his odd looking muscle shirt.  
Chair suppressed an insane giggle at having the absurd thought in the middle of everything currently going on around her.  
Turning in what felt like slow Motion towards Manuals store Chairs gaze was drawn to the slumped overall clad figure leaning up against the cracked faded brick wall the building.  
“I wonder if insurance covers that?” Chair said out loud absently.  
As she continued to watch in almost hypnotized horror as a dark stain slowly pooled beneath the large mans slumped form (blood?) No it was much too dark to be blood.  
Then again maybe it was Chair thought numbly. She'd never seen someone thrown with enough force to demolish brick before so what did she really know about it.  
Chair startled slightly when a new voice broke into her train of thought.  
“I think your lady friend might be a bit over whelmed there bro” said a raspy sounding male voice.  
“Well what can I say; I've been known to have that effect on women” said a third voice with a slightly higher pitch.  
Chair tore her gaze from the ever spreading puddle and looked up to see that two more bikers had pulled up next to her as well.  
“What Throttle means is she's in shock you ego maniac” charley said irritably from her position behind the red bikes rider .  
Charley shifted forward a bit handing the rocket launcher to the rider in front of her while sliding off the back of the bike.  
Chair stared mutely as something unwound itself from around the auburn haired woman's waist.  
(I didn't know motorcycles had seatbelts) Chair thought right before her mind blanked because whatever had just unwound itself from Charley's midsection obviously wasn't a seat belt.  
For starters no seatbelt on earth moved like that and secondly whatever the thing was it was attached directly to the red bikes rider.  
Chairs brain chose that moment to just quite trying to make sense of everything and shut down for a while.  
Chair felt everything around her tip slightly right before she heard Charley gasp,  
“MODO! GRAB HER!” And the world went black.


	2. Chapter2 (Introducing the fast and the Furry)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors notes: Yay! Finally done with the second chapter  and I know we haven’t had any romance yet, don’t worry its coming Im a demisexual myself so I have a little trouble with characters instantly falling into lust, I like a slow build myself and I like to focus heavily on the emotional part of things first So I’m probably going to be moving a little slower then some  
> when it comes to the hanky pankey aspect of the story but when it does get there I plan for it to be Hot! Hot! Hot! To be honest I was mostly using these first few chapters to introduce my Oc chair and give a little background on her before I try my hand at shifting Character views in future chapters.  
> Disclaimer: And now the Disclaimer drum roll please I don’t own Bmfm. If I did Charley/Vinnie would have been married long ago and would have had like six impossible hybrid kids by now. That being said I do own my Oc Chair and the story is mine, as well as any spelling or grammatical errors held within it. I make no money from this and it is for entertainment purposes only.

The first thing Chair became aware of was a bunch of hushed voices she couldn't quite make out around her. The second was that there was something hard digging painfully into her back right below her shoulder blades.  
Chair felt her center of gravity shift slightly as the world began to come back into focus, and she started to pick up on some of the conversation happening around her.  
“Lay her down over here” a feminine voice (Charley) said .  
Chairs head swayed slightly as she felt herself being moved forward and realized someone was carrying her so whatever was digging into her spine must be a hand or an arm.  
(Gad what are they wearing a gauntlet or something) Chair thought irritably as another painful jolt passed through her.  
“What happened is she alright?” Manuals voice thought Chair groggily as she felt herself being settled gently against a cool flat surface.  
(Tile? I'm back in the store) Chair thought, as her conciseness tried to wade through the fog that seemed to have taken over her mind.  
“I think she's just a bit shaken up” a raspy voice answered cutting into the pea soup that was currently Chairs mind. Someone lifted Chair’s head up slightly and slide something soft underneath it.  
Chair felt like she was on the verge of remembering something important as she tried to make sense of the conversation happening around her.  
“I say we get while the getting's good, before sleeping beauty here comes to and starts asking questions” another voice with a higher pitch joined in.  
(The rider of the red bike) Chair thought hazily, as memory fragments began to come back to her in no real particular order.  
Whatever it was had to do with the parking lot…and a fight with motorcycles .There had also been a giant with abs like a Greek statue and a murder?  
Then something had unwound itself from around that women Charley's waist. At first she'd thought it was some kind of seatbelt, only it wasn't. It was attached to the bikes rider and moved like a snake or a tentacle. Only it had fur? Which made it look more like a...  
“TAIL!” Chair shouted.  
Shooting up only to crack her forehead against the helmet covered face of the Buff behemoth currently bent over her.  
“Ouch! Dammit!” Chair swore vehemently holding her abused skull between her hands.  
“I think that might be a bit of a moot point there Bro” the deep voice of the first biker Chair had encountered added dryly  
Giving a pained groan as he lifted up one hand to brace against the side of his helmet .From were he currently sat sprawled on the floor across from Chair after the force of her blow had knocked him of balance.  
Chair blinked owlishly at him for a moment feeling her mouth opening and closing like a beached fish .Before looking at the fur covered appendage stretched across the ground next to him. (Tail) her brain supplied helpfully.  
Chair sat there another minute as she tried to wrap her mind around the reality of that thought only snapping out of it when the male in front of her made as if to stand.  
Darting forward suddenly and startling the large male by grabbing the appendage and yanking it towards her chest.  
Chair felt the muscles in the body part in her grip pulse slightly under her hands the grey fur covering it warm and velvety soft under her fingers as she stared at it in shock, Her sense of touch further confirming what her eyes could already see.  
Chair Blinked slowly a few times before looking up at the male in front of her.  
“Tail” Chair said again calmly an oddly blank look on her face, as she looked into the visor covered face directly across from hers.  
“Uh yeah the male” said cautiously with the same tone of voice one used to talk an animal out of attacking or a person off a building ledge.  
“People don't have TAILS!” Chair said a hint of hysteria painting her voice, while tightening her hands forcefully around the limb in question.  
“Owe! With all due respect ma'am, I'm not going to ether if you don't let go!” The male said flinching slightly as he gently pried the abused body part out of Chairs suddenly nerveless fingers.  
“You have a tail” she said again.  
“I think we've already established that” the rider of the red bike said from his position leaning against the register counter .  
“You!” chair said turning slightly towards him and lifting a hand shakily to point in his direction.  
“YOU HAVE A TAIL!” Chair said again voice steadily growing in volume.  
“What is it with you earthlings and repeating things?” the red bikes rider said turning to address the petite auburn haired women next to him.  
“ Earthlings?” Chair said turning dazedly towards the women.  
(Charley) chair thought.  
“Is there an echo in.” The red bikes rider started to say only to be cut off by Charley's index finger being held an inch in front of his helmets face visor.  
“Don't even go there.” Trust me I speak from experience when I say that you three are a lot for anyone to take in. Charley said poking him in the chest repeatedly as she spoke.  
Chair watched the exchange between the two for a moment longer, before turning her gaze slowly towards the biker with the raspy voice,  
Who had remained silent during the entire exchange meeting a visor covered gaze further hampered by a pair of dark sunglasses.  
“Will someone please tell me, what the hell is going on?!” Chair said a bewildered note creeping into her voice.  
“Well I suppose there's no point trying to keep it under wraps anymore. Seeing as the cats already out of the bag, figuratively speaking that is.” The male in front of her said reaching up to remove his helmet.  
Chair felt her brain blank for the second time that day as she gaped up at the male across from her without his helmet.  
“I don't understand” she whispered.  
“ I'm being held hostage by giant gophers?”  
“Mice ma'am” The tan furred male in front of her said.  
“What?” Chair said continuing to stare at him with wide eyes.  
“We're Mice ma'am” the behemoth next to her answered. Climbing to his feet and removing his helmet, before bending down to help chair to her feet.  
“Mice?” chair repeated dazedly as he gently gripped under her elbow and helped her to stand.  
“From mars” added the red bikes rider removing his helmet as well.  
“Mars?” Chair said turning towards him in time to catch him gesturing in her direction with an I told you so expression before staring pointedly down at Charley .who simply rolled her eyes and angled her upper body slightly away from him.  
“I don't understand. Your?... Your Biker mice from mars?!” Chair asked looking back at the raspy voiced male for conformation.  
“By Jove I think she's got it” the greyed furred male next to her said with a smile.  
“ But I do think you've got a few of the facts scrambled there ma'am. We're the good guys.” He said with a chuckle Hesitating at the blank look Chair gave him in return.  
“What my Bro is trying to say is we didn't take you hostage Ma'am” finished the raspy voiced male with sunglasses.  
“Sooo ?what you're trying to telling me is, you're all a bunch of six foot rodent do gooders from outer space with tails and…and antennas!” Chair finished glancing up at the grey giant next to her and focusing in on the red on top of his head.  
Chair half shrieked the word antenna’s as she darted forward to grab him by the cheeks and pull him down to her eye level so she could better study the appendages sprouting from the top of his cranium.  
“Uh ..Ma'am!?” the male said a slightly panicked and exasperated edge creeping into his voice.  
Chair blinked realizing that she'd inadvertently pulled him down to boob level while examining his built in deelyboppers.  
Feeling his cheeks warm under her palms as the male desperately tried to keep his eyes averted from her cleavage.  
Chair immediately released him feeling her own cheeks pinkening as she watched him beat a hasty retreat across the room.  
(Probably' in the hopes of avoiding any more sudden lunges or awkward groping on her part) Chair mused before trying to turn her thoughts back to the conversation at hand.  
“You expect me to just believe that after seeing you kill that man outside and reveling your big secret to me.”  
“ you're going to let me go as if nothing happened!” Chair said her voice steadily rising to a pitch that had the mice around her flinching in pain  
“YE-OUCH! Quite a set a pipes you got their doll, you mind dialing the volume down a notch” the white furred male said digging into his ear with his little finger.  
“and just what do you mean man we murdered? what murder?” He said a confused look playing across his face.  
“The man you threw into the wall bleeding all over the place…”  
“at least I think he was bleeding” chair said slowly trailing off towards the end With a thoughtful expression on her face.  
“I think she's referring to our resident walking Oil spill” The tan male in sunglasses said.  
“Who greasepit? Lady We didn't kill him heck we barley gave him a proper smack down before sending him and his goon squad on their way back to old fish lips” The white furred male said .  
“Fish Lips?” Chair repeated a bewildered expression crossing her face.  
“I think it might be easier if I just show you rather than risk causing any more confusion.” the tan male in sunglasses said, drawing Chairs gaze back to his own as he quickly moved towards her his long legs clearing the distance between them in a matter of seconds.  
Chair took a step back looking up at him nervously, quickly scanning the room in desperation her eyes moving over the group surrounding her,  
Including Manual and finding no help there before focusing back on the male in front of her.  
“Relax its not going to hurt” he said a slight smile quirking his mouth up at the edges as he leaned forward suddenly.  
Chair closed her eyes while thinking (this is it! Goodbye world! This is the part where they do you in just like in those old gangster movies!) Chair scrunched her eyes shut tighter Only to have them fly Open almost instantly as she felt something brushing against the top of her head, In next second Chair felt the entire world around her fall away.  
What felt like hours but was only a matter of minutes later Chair found herself staring up at …Throttle with a somewhat shell-shocked expression.  
Before looking around and finding the others she now had names for as well her gaze briefly touching an resting on Modo's mechanical arm and Vinnie's face plate before coming back to meet the leaders Throttles eyes through the lenses of his glasses.  
Chair wasn't completely sure she would have believed what he had just shown her even with the whole Vulcan mind meld thing. But she honestly didn't think anybody could fake the depth of emotion she had felt underlying the events he had narrated as they were unfolding before her.  
That more than anything served to convince her it was real. That all of this was real and not just some whacked out dream brought on by malnutrition and heat exhaustion.  
“Alright” Chair said taking in a deep breath.  
“ I believe you” she said looking up at Throttle.  
“So happy to have met with your seal of approval there Sweetheart” Vinnie said sarcastically.  
“Play nice Vinnie .If we didn't have the miens for deep space travel yet we might have a hard time taking something like this in too.” Modo said having moved a little closer, but still a cautious step or two shy of easy reach from Chair.  
“Charley-girl didn't have this much trouble accepting the truth when she met us for the first time.” Vinnie said bringing his hands halfway up for emphasis.  
“That may be Throttle said with a chuckle but not everybody can be like our Charley” Throttle finished with an affectionate smile.  
“That’s the truth” Modo said warmly.  
“Well that's true you are one in a million babe. Beauty, brains, amazing skills on a bike you’re the whole package sweetheart.” Vinnie said grinning down at the mildly blushing red head next to him.  
“Just like yours truly” he said gesturing to himself with his thumb the grin splitting his face morphing into a smug smile.  
Caught off guard charley stared at him blankly a split second before leaning forward with an almost flirty smirk.  
“Vinnie” charley said sweetly reaching up to rub his cheek affectionately causing the white mouse to blush visibly through his fur.  
“ I'm starting to become concerned your developing a foot fetish with how often you keep putting yours in your own mouth” She finished giving the same cheek a little shove before walking over to stand by Modo.  
Chair watched the exchange between the two with a bemused expression. There was some obvious tension there even to someone as new to the group as herself.  
But she already had enough for her over taxed brain to try and process without trying to add that to the pile as well.  
“Might want to take a step back there bro your new friend looks like she might be thinking about getting handsy again” Vinnie said looking towards Chair and Throttle while absently rubbing his cheek.  
“I am not!” Chair said adamantly.  
Quickly tucking her hands, which had been twitching slightly while she was looking at Throttle’s ears behind her back.  
“I still don't understand something though” Chair said with a distant thoughtful look on her face while biting her lip before looking up at Throttle “Why?”  
Taking in Throttles puzzled expression she added  
“I understand you're the good guys and everything”  
“ but why tell me?”  
“ I mean why bother explaining at all? Don't the more people who know your secret put you at risk?”  
She said looking around the room including everyone with a gesture of her arms.  
“You're not exactly the first person to find out about us there doll, but a big Part of it was just bad timing yours to be precise.”  
“ You picked a hell of a place an time to take a dirt nap.” Vinnie said with a shrug.  
“Wrong place right time sort of thing” Throttle added with small gesture in Chairs direction.  
“And we couldn't just leave you laying out there” Modo said looking chair in the eye.  
“ Besides it's not like Ole fish face doesn't already know we're here” He said shrugging the shoulder of his mechanical arm.  
“But this guy can't be the only person you guys need to hide from” Chair said having been given a brief rundown about limburger and the plutarkian invasion during Throttles little walk down memory lane.  
Chair stared into all four faces in the group quizzically, before coming back to rest on Throttles “ I mean aren't you afraid?” she asked.  
“Afraid? Of What?” Throttle said with a puzzled tone.  
“I don't know!” Chair said, throwing her hands into the air.  
“That I'll tell someone else like the police or a reporter or something?” Chair finished with an exasperated shrug.  
“For that matter where are the police?”  
I know the area seems pretty deserted, but you can't tell me that after that many explosions nobody bothered to call them.”  
She said turning to stare out the store windows at the slightly rubble ridden but otherwise empty parking lot in confusion.  
“First things first” Charley said with a grin.  
“ If you want to try explaining to someone reporter or otherwise that there are giant talking mice from mars protecting the back streets of Chicago on laser shooting Motorcycles, be our guest.”  
“ In fact I would love to be a fly on the wall for that one.” Charley said with a chuckle.  
“As to your question about the police” Charley started trailing off with a sad sigh.  
“That's probably a number of things limburger and his bribes being at the top of the list.”  
“ The rest being the current state of the neighborhood itself, tied in with how close we are to the pits.”  
“ It's a rough area even without Limburgers goons adding to the mix.” Charley finished shrugging her shoulders a troubled look on her face.  
“Charley's right about that, Sardine breath is responsible for a good portion of this places sorry state but he's not the only baddie in this section of the windy city's pond” .Vinnie said while watching Charley's face.  
His tail suddenly cracking forcefully against the side of the counter Startling Chair and causing her to jump a little.  
“Well that explains why my apartment was so cheap” Chair said dryly looking away from the parking lot.  
“ But I can't be the only person to have accidently stumbled into one of your battles.”  
“you honestly mean to tell me that no other bystanders ever noticed the tails or the fur for that matter.” Chair said looking back at them a curiously.  
“People see what they want to see” Throttle said on a Shrug.  
“And even if they did notice who'd believe them” He added cocking his head to the side a wry smile curling the edges of his mouth.  
Chair wasn't sure it was as simple as that but she didn't exactly have a counter argument.  
(besides even you thought Modo's Fur was some kind of muscle shirt) a little voice in the back of her head said.  
( Turns out he was just topless and built like Hercules) she thought wryly. All three of them were Chair noted trying not to obviously ogle anyone.  
( Geeze they build 'em big on mars) thought Chair as she took in all the surrounding muscle.  
“Take a picture Sweetie it'll last longer” Vinnie said smugly when he caught her trying to look at him out of the corner of her eye.  
Blushing Chair turned away coughing and stared at the ceiling like it was suddenly the most interesting thing in the universe.  
“You boys ever think about investing in shirts?” Chair asked continuing to count cracks in the tiles above her head as Charley openly laughed to the left of her.  
“Depends you ever try being covered in fur during 90 degree weather?” Modo asked with a good-natured teasing tone to his voice.  
“Point taken” Chair said temporarily breaking her staring contest with the ceiling to smile over at him.  
“Look I hate to call it quits, since being checked out by women is something I live for an all.”  
“ but I got a lunch date with a dog and cooler of root beer Waiting on me” Vinnie said stepping towards the door.  
“Vinnies got a point” throttle said with a smile we've imposed on Manual long enough.  
Chair looked over in Manuals direction with a guilty twinge having nearly forgotten he was even in the room and realizing at some point he must have turned the stores sign from open to closed for them.  
So they could continue with their conversation without risk of interruption or discovery.  
“It is no problem my friends it is the least I can do for you after your help to rescue me and Open my grocery store” Manual said with a dismissive wave.  
“Speaking of Groceries I believe these are yours” Modo said picking up a somewhat crumpled paper bag from the floor next to the door and handing it to Chair.  
“OH! Thanks I had almost forgotten” Chair said her stomach choosing that moment to announce its displeased state with a sound reminiscent of an angry Jaguar.  
Chair found herself starring down into the contents of the little sack with cheeks that felt like they were burning.  
“Sounds like part of you remembered” Throttle said with a chuckle.  
“ I think it's time we went on our way and let you get back to what you were doing before we arrived” He finished.  
“Wait!” Chair said angling herself away from Modo to face Throttle stepping towards him a dozen questions running through her mind with no answers.  
(Nessun rimpianto/No regrets) Chair thought glancing up towards his head the echo of her Grandfathers voice helping her to settle on a course of action.  
They struck her as the ride off into the sunset and never look back type.  
So chances were pretty good she wouldn't catch more than a glimpse of them again even if she did run across them.  
(So it's now or never) Chair thought moving forward quickly before she could change her mind. Thrusting her grocery sack into a startled Throttle's hands, and standing on her toes.  
Years of practicing demi pointe helping her balance while making the action quick and precise.  
Chair reached up quickly before she lost her nerve and commenced rapidly tweaking his ears her fingers ruffling through the surprisingly plush fur before she let go dropping back down.  
Chair smiled up into Throttles stunned expression noticing that his glasses had slide halfway down his face reveling his eyes as he continued to stare at her in dumbfounded shock his mouth slightly open.  
“Thanks for that” Chair said brightly over her shoulder as she turned and headed for the door.  
Followed by the sounds of Charley, Modo and Vinnie's laughter,  
as Vinnie choked out the words “ I told you. You were standing to close bro.” in between laughs.  
Chair hesitated a thought occurring to her right before she started pushing open the glass door  
“My Keys!” She cried turning back suddenly  
Chair found herself Suppressing a chuckle as all three mice stopped their teasing and took a few hasty steps back out of reach.  
Charley on the other hand burst out into another bought of hysterical laughter at the reactions of all three males.  
“Did anybody happen to see where I dropped my keys?” Chair asked her lips twisting into a worried frown as she looked at the group in front of her.  
“OH! Here I picked them up when we brought you inside” Charley said reaching into her jean pocket before tossing them towards Chair.  
Catching them one handed Chair shot the red head a grateful smile.  
“Thanks” Chair said genuine relief filling her voice as she stared down at the keys in her hand.  
“What don't have a spare?” Vinnie asked with a playful grin.  
“Something like that” Chair said running her thumb across the keys to her Great grandfathers studio as they all headed out the door into the bright sunshine.  
“I'm not sure your door will open properly after getting sideswiped by that tire” Charley said with a serious expression as she stood beside Vinnie on his red bike.  
“ If it starts giving you trouble you can bring it by my shop and I'll see what I can do for it” She said meeting Chairs eyes.  
“Shop?” Chair asked looking at the younger women curiously.  
“Oh I'm the resident Mechanic”  
“ I own the last chance garage a bit further down the way from here” Charley said with a Grin.  
“Mechanic-Smanic!” Vinnie cut in swinging an arm around Charley's shoulder.  
“Charley girl here's a grade A genius when it comes to mechanical devices an gizmos of any kind. “  
“If she can't fix it, then she'll rebuild it better than new”  
“ We're talking fully equipped rockets, super chargers and lasers!”  
“ You just name it, our girl here's got some serious skills.” He finished proudly giving Charley's shoulder a little squeeze before letting go.  
Earning a smile and an eye roll from the blushing mechanic as she looked over at him.  
“I'll uh? Keep that in mind if I decide I ever want to invade a neighboring country I guess” Chair said with a small laugh.  
“Thanks for the offer” Chair said warmly to Charley.  
Before glancing around “and it's certainly been …interesting meeting all of you” Chair said with a smile.  
“I guess this is goodbye” Chair added as she managed to pop the door of her truck open with only a little more effort than usual.  
“Goodbye” Charley said as, she settled on the red bike behind Vinnie while he wrapped his tail securely around her waist.  
“Oh! And Chair!” Charley called over the roar of the red bikes engine.  
“Welcome to the neighborhood!” Charley yelled with a grin as they peeled out of the parking lot.  
“Nice meeting you Ma'am” Modo said with a warm smile climbing onto his own bike, giving a wave with his mechanical hand as he rode out after the couple ahead of him.  
“You take care now” Throttle said as he pulled up next to her.  
“And remember” he added reeving the engine of his own bike.  
“Ride Free Citizen” He yelled before tearing out after the others.  
Leaving Chair alone in the parking lot next to her open truck door grocery bag in hand staring after the retreating riders as the disappeared into the distance.  
Thinking about how much her Grandfather would have enjoyed meeting them.  
“Well Gee-gee” Chair said out loud as she watched them vanish over a nearby hill.  
“If you're watching from heaven you must be highly entertained at the moment because today has been more than a little weird for me.”  
“You would have absolutely loved it” Chair finished sadly as she turned to climb into the truck.  
Setting her groceries in the seat next to her before wrestling the door shut again Chair paused thoughtfully caressing the keys in her hand fondly again before finding the one for the ignition. .  
(Today would have been right up his ally) Chair thought pulling out of the parking lot.  
“Bikers and Martians and Bad guys oh my!” Chair said softly with a laugh.  
As she rolled her window down to let the cool air pass over her and through her hair. Finally on the way back to her apartment.


	3. ( One week since you looked at me cocked your head to the side and said Dude your furry)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (W.W.T) here and I’m finally done with the next chapter, I’m a little tired so I’m going to keep this intro brief .I’ve had the best and worst of times writing and editing this chapter but unlike Charles Dickens who wrote A Tale of Two Cities. I am not paid per word. In fact I’m not paid to write this at all it’s just something I’ve made up for my own entertainment and decided to share for fun. I know the concept of the guys being sensitive to heat isn’t a new one. I’ve read plenty of drabbles and fics I think it’s even referenced In the third biker scholars amazing fic The First. I just don’t recall what chapter since it has 74 of them there’s also a funny one shot by Intrepidewarriors called Drizzle & sizzle that’s pretty cute and of course funny. Oh also as far as I know there is no Chicago aspiring talent corporation I made it up (C.A.T. corp. get it?) *cough cough * my poor puns aside please enjoy the story.  
> This of course leads us to the disclaimer  
> Disclaimer: I don’t actually Own Bmfm outside of a few comics Vhs’s and recently thanks to amazon all three seasons on DVD in French.(and yes my computer can play region 2 disks) I make no money from this story. It and the Oc’s involved are just the result of my overactive and sometimes twisted imagination. Also I apologize for any spelling or grammatical errors in advance.

[Chair One week later]  
Chair wrinkled her nose at the rank sent of burnt egg filling the small living space as she desperately tried to pry the apartment's only window open in an attempt to air out the room.  
(At least before a fire alarm went off somewhere else in the building) Chair thought.  
Having already silenced the banshee shrills of her own small store bought smoke detector by ripping out its batteries when she couldn't find the off button.  
Giving up on the window Chair made her way over to the door.  
Propping it open with the beat up folding auditorium seat she kept next to it and Praying the scent of her failed attempt to microwave an omelet, wouldn't cause anyone stepping out into the stairway to call the fire department.  
Chair Leaned up against the wall next to the open door with the doomed hope of getting some fresh air.  
(Well so much for that great idea) Chair thought sarcastically trying not to gage as the smell of charbroiled yolks mixed with mold perfumed air from the stairway.  
Grabbing her keys off the bent nail she had hammered next to the door for them.  
Chair pulled the door shut behind her hoping that the brief bit of airing out had been enough,  
to keep anyone from complaining to the landlord as she made her way down the stairs in a hurry to be on her way.  
She had a potential job interview at 10:00 and it was already a quarter past nine. Chair new she should have been on her way at least twenty minutes ago but she had been starving.  
In an attempt to further ration her dwindling food supplies. Chair had opted to skip dinner the night before,  
With the plan to get up early and cook the last of the eggs that had survived the fall to the pavement earlier that week.  
Thinking that having something substantial on her stomach might help with her concentration during the interview.  
Only to end up sleeping through her alarm the next morning having tossed and turned most of the night.  
The complaints of her empty stomach having kept her awake.  
Thus, her harebrained idea to try nuking her breakfast this morning in an attempt to get something into her aching gut.  
Now not only was she was running behind, she was twice as hungry then if she would have simply eaten the night before.  
(Defiantly not one of my better plains)Chair thought belatedly, as she reached her truck door perspiration already causing the dress top she was wearing to stick to her uncomfortably.  
“You'd think this heatwave could take a break for a bit” Chair said grumpily as she wrestled with the driver's side door.  
Giving a frustrated growl When the door failed to respond even with the extra force she was putting behind her efforts to pry it open.  
Throwing her hands into the air Chair stomped around and crawled in through the passenger side door sliding across the seat until she came to a stop behind the steering wheel.  
Pausing a moment to try and straiten the absurdly tight and restricting skirt she'd squeezed into in an attempt to appear more professional at the interview.  
Unable to tug it back into place while seated Chair gave up and fastened her seatbelt.  
Happy that it at least didn't give her any trouble for a change that day, before pulling out onto the deserted street.  
With the heatwave having spiked to temps in the hundreds by noon just in the last two days. Only those driven by necessity or desperation where bothering to venture out into the oven like temperatures.  
Chair wasn't sure which of those two categories she fell into at the moment, but she was leaning towards desperate.  
Chair looked up as she finished navigated some of the rougher patches of the street and caught sight of a few greyish clouds in the distance.  
Mentally crossing her fingers as she refocused on the road in front of her,  
“Come on Rain” Chair whispered as she pulled down the street that would take her to the building she was scheduled to have her interview in.  
“No offense to Mr. Sunshine but we could use a break from all this extra attention we've been getting lately.” Chair muttered as she parked the truck.  
Before climbing out of the passenger door again, tugging her skirt back into place as she hurried around the old ford towards the doors to the reception area.  
“Please let me have made it here in time” she prayed out loud as she pulled open the glass door and stepped inside.  
[Justice League announcer voice: Mean while at the Wrigley field scoreboardJ]  
“We're going to bake to death” Vinnie stated miserably from his sprawled position in front of one of the fans the males had scattered around their hideout.  
“If we could only be that lucky” Throttle muttered as he stood in front of the open door to the empty fridge the mice usually kept their root beers in desperately trying to cool himself down.  
“How you holding up there bro?” Vinnie asked concernedly Glancing over at the other male,  
With fur thicker and longer than either of the other two mice Throttle was taking the current heatwave the hardest.  
“I'm hanging in there” Throttle said looking over his shoulder at the prone male draped limply across the couch.  
“ How bought you?”  
“ Need to switch off yet?” He asked gesturing to the fridge.  
Vinnie stared at the open refrigerator door for a moment obviously tempted before flopping back down onto the couch and shutting his eyes.  
“Nah! I'm good, besides you need it more than I do.” He said dismissively vaguely waving his arm in Throttles direction before readjusting the fan to blow more fully on him.  
“Don't go trying to be all noble on me there Vincent” Throttle said with a laugh.  
“Noble my furry backside I'm just too hot and tired to bother moving” Vinnie replied with a grin his eyes still closed.  
Throttle chuckled before turning back into the cool draft from the open fridge door.  
“You're not fooling me Vinnie but I'm still gonna take you up on the offer.”  
“ Much more of this heat and I think my insides are going to boil out onto the floor” Throttle said leaning his head against the door frame with a groan.  
“Well there's an attractive image for you” Vinnie said wrinkling his nose as he looked back over at his leader with a worried expression.  
“Sorry I think the heats just getting to me” Throttle said with a tired sigh using his thumb and forefinger to rub at his eyes under his glasses.  
“I'd have to agree with you there bro” Vinnie said sitting back up.  
“Speaking of heat I wonder what's keeping Charley-girl and Modo with those parts for the new air conditioner”  
he said glancing towards the entrance they usually used to get in and out of the scoreboard.  
“I don't know” answered Throttle  
“ but I hope they get back soon”  
“ I'm not sure how much more of this I can honestly take” he said glancing in the white mouse's direction.  
[Charley and Modo]  
“Alright that should be all of it” Charley said setting a small box of parts into the back of her truck and wiping the sweat from her brow with a rolled up sleeve.  
Turning Charley glanced up at Modo as he set down the Second air conditioning unit she had managed to sweet talk the price down on. When she gone in to find the parts she needed for the first one.  
Charley frowned as she took in his haggard expression and the droop to his ears.  
“ How you holding up there big guy?” She asked reaching up to rub his shoulder in concern.  
Modo glanced down affectionately at the small female next to him as he replied.  
“Don't look so worried. Charley I'm alright.”  
“ I'll just be better when we can get back to the board and hook up these unites” He said with a smile gently covering her small hand with his mechanical one.  
“The air works in the truck if you want to load your bike up in the back and try squeezing into the cab with me”  
Charley said sliding her hand back down to his elbow and giving his arm a small tug in the direction of the truck.  
“Thanks for that Charley girl.” Modo said eyeing the passenger side of the vehicle and mentally flinching at the thought of trying to fold his massive frame into the space in question.  
“But I think that me an Lil Hoss will just meet you back at the board” Modo finished, whistling for Lil Hoss and giving Charley another smile as he climbed on.  
“Well if you're sure” Charley said giving him one more concerned glance while walking around to driver side door and hoping in.  
“I'll see you in a few then” She called out the trucks window as she pulled out onto the street ahead.  
Laughing a few minutes later as her old truck was quickly over taken and passed by the burly Martian biker.  
Who proceeded to show off for a few seconds before pulling ahead and disappearing down the road.  
Rolling up the window Charley leaned back slightly and cranked the ac.  
As she began humming one of the softer Guns and Roses songs that had been playing when the guys had turned on the radio that morning.  
Absently singing one of the lines as she turned down one of the side streets to get to wriggly field.  
“And it's hard to hold a candle” She sang softly slowing down slightly as her attention was momentarily caught by a women in a hiked up pencil skirt running full tilt down the sidewalk.  
Chasing after what at first glance looked like a large dog carrying a shoe in its mouth. Only as Charley slowed to get a better look at it the less it resembled a dog and the more it took on the appearance of an ugly walking /running carpet that had been molded into the shape of a dog.  
A jarring bounce from a small pothole refocused Charley's attention back on the road. When she glanced back around the odd duo had reached the end of the sidewalk and where rounding the corner out of sight.  
“Well that's a little out of the ordinary” Charley muttered as she continued on her way down the street.  
Then giving a little laugh, it said a lot about her life as of late when something like that barely registered on her Weirdar anymore.  
Charley continued on, humming a few more lines from the song she had been singing earlier.  
[Modo]  
Modo pulled ahead of Charley Lil Hoss's powerful engine purring as she ate up the asphalt Feeling an excited tremor pass through the bikes frame.  
Modo laughed while reaching out to give the bikes side an affectionate pat.  
“Yeah I hear ya Hoss been feeling a bit cooped up lately huh girl?”  
“Not much action these last few days I know”  
“ Ole Fish face has been quite since we toppled his latest tower over, and with this fur frying heatwave going on we haven't exactly been getting out as much for rides.”  
“You just hang in there girl”  
“ Something or other will come up and the heat will pass soon” He said chuckling.  
“And then before you know it we'll be back to our old routine tearing it up in no time flat” Modo finished grinning as he tightened his grip on Hoss's handlebars.  
“Tell you what Lil Hoss how about we take the scenic route and let off a little steam before we get back to the field?” He asked revving the engine and turning down one of the roads that would have him circling around the backway to the field instead of heading directly there.  
Feeling Hoss give a contented thrum as he increased his speed a bit.  
Just then an orange blur burst from between a set of parked cars followed by a large Shaggy shape and two children, causing him to veer sharply to the side to avoid a collision with the odd bunch.  
Modo swore in Martian righting his bike before turning back in time to see the smaller of the two children, who appeared to have hold of the beast's leash lose their desperate grip on it and fall face first into the pavement.  
The biggest of the pair halting in their pursuit of what Modo assumed was a very large and extremely shaggy dog to bend down and help the littler one up.  
Modo felt his heart clinch at the sight of the blood dribbling down the small face and chin from a busted lip.  
Already in the process of turning his bike around as the injured child began to wail out their hurt to the world.  
Pulling Hoss to the side Modo stepped off and quickly made his way over to the pair kneeling down to their level when they looked up at him nervously.  
“Hey there” he said trying to hunch down to appear less intimidating.  
“Everybody Ok?” He asked, even though he could see the little one wasn't, he still felt it needed to be asked.  
“We lost Mickey and Morse fell down” the older of two (a little girl) said sniffling as she tugged the smaller male child towards her.  
“I see” said Modo turning his gaze to the little boy.  
“ Morse huh?” He asked smiling warmly through his helmets visor at the child who by now had stopped crying.  
Wide eyed the little boy stared up at the large biker before slowly nodding his head.  
“Well nice to meet you Morse, I'm Modo.” Modo said warmly.  
“ How about we get you two out of the road and then see what we can do about that dog of yours?” Modo asked as he helped the little girl (who introduced herself as Sarah) to move Morse to the opposite side of the street.  
Modo quickly walked back to Lil Hoss to fetch an extra bandana he had tucked in a side compartment, to help clean the blood off Morse's face.  
“Alright hold still for a second longer” Modo said as he gently wiped the last of the blood from the small freckle dusted skin of the child in front of him Careful not to brush against the fresh split in the lip above it.  
“Ok” Modo said taking a step back.  
“ I think I've got the gist of things but do ether of you want to give me the run down on what exactly just happened here?” He asked watching the children before him.  
The little girl (Sarah) glanced down at Morse before looking back up at Modo.  
“ I told mom that I could handle taking Mickey for his morning walk today.”  
“An well…Morse really wanted to help so, I went ahead an let him hold the leash.”  
“ Cause Mickey's usually really good on his walks and stuff.”  
“Only there was this big ole tabby cat that ran out in front of us…Mickey don't hate cats and he never hurts 'em, but he likes to chase 'em”  
“When he did Morse was too little to hold him” Sarah finished sadly as she looked down at the tear stained little boy beside her, Her own eyes starting to water.  
“Hey, hey now! Hold on its ok!” Modo said with a slightly panicked tone, his hands hovering around the distraught children.  
“But we lost MICKEY!” The little boy (Morse) cried out and finished on a Wail, his sobs steadily rising in pitch as he worked himself up into a state.  
“Alright hold on, Its gonna be ok!”  
“ Just let me think for a second” Modo said as he tried to sooth the child to no avail.  
“Tell you what how about I see if I can't find him for you” Modo said patting the little boy on the shoulder as he slowly settled back down. His cries dissolving into wet hiccups.  
“There we go deep breath” Modo said standing back up and glancing around for any sign of the dog.  
“He couldn't have gotten far”  
“ You two stay here and I'll take a quick look around to see If I can't spot him” Modo said before giving a whistle for Lil Hoss.  
Modo turned back to give the children a wave as he climbed up on the bike. While they openly gaped up at him and the self-driving motor bike in surprise.  
“I'll be right back” he called as he started down the road in the direction he thought he had seen the dog take.  
“Did you see that?” Morse asked his sister as the bike and rider disappeared.  
“Sure did” Sarah answered awe filling her voice.  
“How do you think he got his bike to do that?” Morse asked looking up at her his eyes wide.  
“Don't know maybe he's a magician or something” She said with a shrug still staring after the burly biker.  
“I guess that makes sense, he did have on kinda funny clothes” Morse said looking back after him as well.  
[Chair]  
Chair made her way back past the snobby security guard. Who after wrinkling his nose in obvious disapproval at Chairs slightly sweaty blouse and wrinkled skirt had directed her to the room they were using to conduct the interviews for the position.  
Finding the room after accidentally walking past it twice a nervous Chair afraid of being late had rushed inside.  
Only to catch her heel on part of the door frame and fly through the air with all the grace of a duck shot from the sky.  
To land flat on her face at the feet of the salt and pepper haired women in a pair of half-moon spectacles and pantsuit conducting the interviews.  
Who proceeded to openly gape at Chair in shock as she flopped in an undignified heap on the floor.  
The women continued to stare her eyes widening even further as a horizontal and frustrated Chair hampered by the restricting skirt.  
Let out a stream of fowl mouthed language that would have been worthy off any ship bound sailor before finally managing to struggle to her feet.  
An awkward silence then ensued as Chair and the Women regarded each other. Before a flushed an embarrassed Chair finally broke it.  
“Hi I'm here for the 10:00 o'clock” she said stepping forward while attempting to smooth down the skirt. (that she fully intended to burn later)  
“I see” said the women coming back to herself.  
“Ah .. yes You must be Ms. Noble then.”  
“ I'm Mrs. Deborah Nivea we spoke briefly on the phone yesterday I believe.”

“Um.. please have a seat won't you” she finished gesturing to a lime green vinyl armchair set across from a scuffed and slightly chipped wooden desk.  
“Thank you” Chair said making her way over to the unattractive piece of furniture and sitting down.  
Flinching as her settling weight caused the cheaply made cushion to let out a loud squeak followed by a hiss of air reminiscent of steam escaping an old locomotive.  
“Now Ms. Noble tell ..” Mrs Nivea started.  
“ Chair.” Chair said interrupting.  
“Beg pardon?” Mrs. .Nivea said starring at Chair quizzically.  
“My name…I mean that is I prefer to go by my first name which is Chair” Chair babbled nervously fidgeting slightly with the hem of her skirt.  
“Oh!” Mrs. Nivea said blinking slowly.  
“ I thought that I had been mistaken and that it was a typo of some kind from our paperwork department” She finished on a mildly horrified note.  
Glancing down at one of the print outs sitting under her palm on the desk.  
“No my name really is Chair” Chair said giving a nervous grin when Mrs. Nivea continued to stare at her mutely.  
In an attempt at humor Chair added  
“Well it could be worse at least my last name isn't Barcalounger” she finished with a forced laugh.  
Chair felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach as she watched Mrs. Nivea's face take on that oddly cold distant look that people often adapted when they had already made a decision of the kind that never boded well for the person on the receiving end of it.  
Walking back out of the building into the muggy mid-morning air, not even twenty minutes later.  
Chair was more than certain that she had just bombed (as in failed on an atomic level) that particular job interview.  
Not that she had actually wanted to work as a fill in receptionist for the Chicago aspiring talent corporation.  
But it was a job and at this point what she wanted was out the window, because what she needed was a paycheck.  
“Why can't just one thing go right?” Chair said on a sigh turning her face to stare up at the sky.  
“Gee-gee if you can hear me up there could you please ask them to send something good my way.”  
“ I'm starting to get a little desperate here and I could really use some help.” Chair said starring up into the cloudless sky.  
(So much for the rain) she thought as she made her way down the steps and across the street to her truck.  
Chair tiredly leaned her head against the driver side door as it suddenly occurred to her; that she was going to have to enter through the passenger side again.  
Thumping her head in frustration lightly against the window with a dull thud before straightening back up,Chair began making her way listlessly back around the truck again.  
“One thing, just one thing” she muttered as she started flipping through her keys as she made her way towards the opposite side of the vehicle.  
During the course of her muttering Chair failed to notice, the large shaggy form barreling towards her on an obvious collision course.  
An orange blur with stripes suddenly streaked between Chairs legs and vanished underneath her truck.  
“What the hell!” a startled Chair said as she partially lost her balance and caught herself against the dinged side of the old ford.  
Glancing down at the spot where the furry streak had disappeared behind the bottom left tire.  
Straightening back up Chair had just enough time to register the sight of a very large Woolly shape hurtling towards her before it collided Knocking her flat for the second time that day.  
Chair found herself staring up into the panting maw of what had to be the Hairiest dog she'd ever seen, as it half crouched half laid on top of her looking down into Chairs stunned expression with a pleased doggy smile.  
Right before it proceeded to start licking Chair's face with an extremely wet and drool covered tongue.  
“Ick gross!” Chair sputtered trying to simultaneously turn away from the slobbery barrage and shift the massive k-9 off her.  
“Down Boy!”  
“ Or Girl!”  
“ Or ugh!”  
“ Heck whatever you are! …just get off of me!” Chair finished sliding out from under the hairy behemoth.  
Chair managed to make it back to her feet as the excited dog continued to fawn and lean against her giving an excited woof!  
As he wagged his tail and caveated around her feet. After standing back up Chair belatedly realized she was now missing one of her shoes.  
Glancing around she noticed it on the ground about a foot behind the large dogs back leg.  
As if sensing were her gaze was the bushy beast suddenly turned and also noticing the shoe let out another exuberant sounding woof!  
Before turning and scooping it up in his mouth taking off down the sidewalk at a brisk gallop.  
“Wait!” Chair yelled chasing after him.  
Which seemed to be exactly what the dog wanted as it picked up speed tail wagging like a propeller as it proceeded to lead Chair in a merry(for it at least) game of keep away.  
“Give that back!” Chair called after the retreating ball of fur.  
As she gave pursuit quickly realizing she didn't stand a chance of catching him with the ridicules skirt restricting her movements.  
Chair paused long enough to hike it up her thighs, well above what may have been considered decent.  
Her skirt now more closely resembling a miniskirt than functional office wear but freeing up her legs for Chair to better chase after the escaping doggy shoe napper.  
Chair had almost caught up to him even with her current lopsided gate from her missing shoe.  
When he rounded the corner Chair gave desperate leap just barley managing to snag the end of the leather lead the dog was trailing behind him.  
“Gotcha!” Chair crowed triumphantly as the large dog came to a sudden halt his escape hampered by her grip on the leash.  
Turning to face her the dog gave Chair a rather indignant look before making his way back over to her and dropping a now drool drenched heel next to one of Chair's freshly scraped knees.  
The dog woofed once his tail slapping out a happy beat as he panted merrily up into Chair's face before flopping down and placing his massive furry head on her lap.  
Chair stared down at the shaggy creature with bewildered exasperation before reaching out to give the dogs head an awkward pat and scratch behind the ear.  
“Guess you just wanted to play huh big guy?”  
“ But were the hell did you even come from?” Chair asked looking around in confusion at the nearly deserted street.  
Outside of a few people driving by in their cars there really wasn't anyone about that she could see.  
She supposed the dog might have jumped from a moving vehicle if the window was down but none of the ones passing were giving any appearances of slowing down or stopping so Chair really didn't think that was it.  
Chair began worrying her bottom lip with her teeth as she thought before looking down into the friendly warm brown eyes of the creature currently using her lap as a pillow.  
“Well I've caught you.”  
“ Now what do I do with you?” Chair asked the dog who simply yawned before giving her a contented doggy grin obviously tired out from his previous game of chase and having no intentions of moving in the near future.  
Chair picked up her slobber soaked shoe and climbed unsteadily to her feet her scrapped and mildly bruised knees aching a bit as she did.  
“Alright my not so little bushy haired friend, I have a hunch you must belong to somebody.”  
“ What with the leash you're wearing and as sweet as you seem to be, when you're not playing pranks that is.”  
“So let's have a look around and see if we can't find who you belong to” Chair said, as she gave the leash a small tug to urge the dog to his feet.  
“Come on sweetie let's see if we can't find somewhere out of this heat.”  
“ If I'm sweating this much I don't want to think about how you must feel under all that hair of yours” Chair said starting back around the corner towards her truck with the dog in tow.  
Before she'd fully made it back to her parked vehicle Chairs ears picked up the sound of an approaching engine differing from the sound of the previous passing cars.  
Glancing back Chair noticed a large blue motorcycle pulling down the street behind her Chair started to turn away when she recognized the Rider on top of it.  
(Modo?) Chair thought surprised as he pulled up next to her.  
“Excuse me Ma'am I'm looking for… “Modo started to ask stopping as he recognized Chair himself.  
“ Hey I know you. You're the lady with the unusual earth name”  
“ who fainted at Manuals last week…Couch?”  
“ no that's not it um..” Modo trailed of obviously at a loss as he continued to stare at her.  
“Chair” She supplied re-adjusting the leash in her hand to a more comfortable position as the friendly dog, tail wagging enthusiastically tugged against it slightly in an attempt to get closer to the Burly biker.  
“Nice to see I left such a lasting impression on you” Chair said dryly while Modo sputtered over a reply.  
“Hey now that's..not exactly true.”  
“ I did remember you I just didn't remember your name”  
“ That is what I mean to say is…”Modo babbled his voice slowly fading.  
“I'm just digging a bigger hole here aren't I ?” He said rubbing at the back of his helmet.  
“More or less Chair” said wryly.  
“Its ok I'll let you off the hook this time, Since you probably meet and rescue new people all the time.”  
“But I have to admit my prides a little bruised”  
“you guys left a rather lasting impression on me”  
“ Then again it's not every day I met Bikers from Mars who also happen to be giant talking mice with psychic powers” Chair finished smiling at the disconcerted male in front of her.  
“Yes ..well..Um speaking of rescues at the moment,”  
“ I'm sort of on a search and rescue one myself.”  
Modo said looking pointedly at the large dog that was now sitting on Chairs shoeless foot leaning heavily against her leg.  
“Oh?” Who are you looking for? Chair asked missing the look Modo aimed at the dog.  
“I'm looking for Mickey” Modo answered.  
Causing Chair to give a startled laugh” Mickey?... As in the mouse?” Chair asked with a bemused smile.  
Modo stared a moment at Chair giving her a confused look until it suddenly sank in what she meant.  
Modo laughed himself giving his leg a slap before, glancing back at Chairs face noting her laughing eyes and the smile twitching lips.  
“No this particular Mickey is of the large Shaggy canine variety and I know two little kids who are missing one who happens to match the description of your friend here” Modo said with a grin.  
Chair glanced down at the more than large dog as he continued to perch on her bare foot.  
“Oh! That's a relief. I was at a bit of a loss, trying to figure out what to do with him” Chair said with a relived smile. As she gave the dogs bushy head another pat.  
“Uh? Ma'am are you alright?” Modo asked concernedly.  
Noticing for the first time Chairs scrapped knees and disheveled appearance.  
“Hmm?..Oh!” Chair said glancing down at herself; Embarrassed when she thought of how ridicules she must look with her white blouse soaked in a combination of dust an dog spit, her beyond wrinkled skirt rolled almost into no man's land and wearing only one shoe.  
“I'm fine. It's just a bit of a long story” Chair answered with a chagrined expression as she looked back up into Modo's concerned gaze.  
“You sure?” Modo asked glancing back down an suppressing a wince at the raw looking scrapes covering Chair's knees.  
“Don't worry.” Chair said noticing the direction he was looking in.  
“I don't think it's as bad as it looks , An I actually have a pretty high pain tolerance when it comes to things like this.”  
“So it's not really bothering me that much” Chair finished mentally crossing her fingers at the little white lie.  
A small whine drew Chairs attention back to the by now heavily panting dog.  
“ Poor guy you must be over heating out here with all that fur” she said bending down to give the dogs ears a scratch.  
“I know how he feels” Modo said sympathetically leaning over to give the friendly canine a pat as well.  
Chair went to straighten up at the same moment Modo leaned over bumping her forehead against the bottom of his helmet.  
“Oops Sorry about that ma'am” Modo said sitting back up.  
“Ouch! I think this is becoming a habit for us” she said rubbing at the sore spot, while scrunching one eye at him.  
“You know I'm starting to think my run ends with you are some kind of cosmic karma sent by Grandfather's Spirt to punish me for skipping meals.” Chair said wryly with a small smile to take the sting out of it.  
“Oh I take it he didn't like it when you did that” Modo said with a chuckle.  
“No not really he said it wasn't good for a growing or grown girl to miss meals” Chair said with a crooked smile.  
“Can't say I blame him, I never liked the idea of pretty girls going hungry ether” Modo said. Looking at Chair , his expression blanking as what he said sank in.  
“That is uh..I mean..” Modo said stuttering.  
Chair felt something in her Chest warm slightly as she watched the big Martian blush and stumble over his words cutely.  
Smiling Chair laughed “You know what thanks for that, Todays been kind of rotten and I could really use the complement right now” She said warmly.  
“Here I think you better take our fuzzy buddy here back to his family” Chair said stepping down of the curb and pressing the leash into his mechanical hand, giving it a friendly pat as his robotic fingers gripped the lead before turning away from the flustered male with a little wave.  
“If you'll excuse me I've got to go attempt to pry my truck door open so I can head home and get cleaned up” Chair said smiling at him over her shoulder.  
as she started to make her way awkwardly (with only one shoe on) towards the old ford parked about five feet from them.  
“Err.” Modo hedged as he glanced down at the panting pouch and then back up at Chairs retreating figure.  
“Hold on a second” he said wrapping the dogs leash loosely around Hoss's handle bars as he stepped off the bike and walked after her.  
Chair turned back around and stared up at him curiously as he came to a stop next to her.  
“If it’s giving you trouble Maybe I can help you to unstick it” he said Holding up his mechanical arm and giving it a flex.  
“Well it would be nice not to half to slide in from the passenger side” Chair said hesitantly looking between the large biker and the old truck.  
“Always happy to be of assistance to a lady in need” Modo said following behind Chair over to the driver side door.  
Chair used her key to unlock the door then gave the handle a tug frowning then looking up at Modo when nothing happened.  
“Well that was my best shot” she said stepping to the side and motioning for Modo to give it a try.  
“Let me have a crack at it.” Modo said popping his knuckles before nudging Chair a little further back with a gentile sweep of his arm.  
Modo put his mechanical hand on the top part of the door digging in slightly as he tugged with his flesh arm pulling back forcefully only to have the entire door come off in his grip.  
Much to the horror of a now Bug eyed Chair.  
“Oh sweet Mother of …” Chair trailed off staring at the dismantled door in the Muscle bound males hands.  
“Whoops” Modo said sheepishly looking over at Chair with an apologetic expression.  
“Uh sorry about that Ma'am ...guess sometimes I forget my own strength” Modo said as he leaned the door up against the side of the truck.  
Modo fidgeted a moment as he stared nervously down at chair as she closed her eyes and began muttering under her breath,  
“Uh…what exactly are you doing?” Modo asked.  
As a still muttering Chair cracked open one eye to glare up at him.  
“I'm promising my grandfather I will never deliberately skip eating without good reason again.”  
“ It's not worth the consequences” Chair finished darkly as she glared over at her decimated truck door.  
“Yeah um.. Like I said I'm really sorry about that” Modo said rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment.  
“How exactly am I supposed to get home now?” Chair asked as she continued staring forlornly at her vehicle.  
“I can't legally drive back to my apartment like this” She said gesturing towards the now doorless driver side.  
Modo stared over at the truck with a pensive expression then suddenly perked up snapping his fingers .  
“tell you what” he said looking back down at Chair.  
“You wait here a few minutes and I'll return our hairy compatriot to his owners and come back and give you a lift to your apartment.”  
“Well I appreciate that” Chair said running her fingers through her hair.  
“ but what about my truck?”  
“ I can't just leave it like this it'll end up stolen or hauled off” Chair said with a worried frown.  
“Well I guess you do have a point there” Modo said thinking a moment, before moving towards the vehicle.  
“Hold on a second” he said lifting the door back into place and bracing it while welding along the top and bottom of it, with the laser in his cybernetic arm.  
“There I wouldn't recommend trying to drive with it like this, But that should hold until I can get back here with Charley and see about getting it towed back to the garage for you.” Modo said taking a step back to inspect his handy work.  
“I guess that'll have to do” Chair said begrudgingly giving a tired sigh as she looked back up at the contrite mouse next to her.  
Chair found herself caving as he looked down at her with an almost sorrowful expression that was somehow reminiscent of a kicked puppy.  
“It's alright” she said looking back at her now lumpy and slightly melted door.  
“You were only trying to help” Chair finished on another sigh. Thinking of puppies reminded Chair of the rather big one currently waiting on them.  
Chair turned back to check on him just in time to witness one of the oddest games of tug and war she'd ever seen.  
As a bored Mickey yanked against his leash enthusiastically only to be tugged back as the large bike shifted on its own and pulled the pony sized dog back into place with little to no effort.  
“Uh? Modo” Chair said gesturing in the direction of the odd argument going on between the two.  
“Oh! Excuse me a second.” Modo said making his way over to the pair and unwinding the leash from the bikes handles.  
Climbing back onto the bike and pulling slowly over to the sidewalk the large dog keeping pace beside him Modo glanced over at Chair with a grin.  
“I'll be right back just as soon as a make quick pit stop to return this fellow” he said turning and heading slowly back down the street carefully matching his bikes pace to the large dog's next to him.  
(My life just keeps getting Odder and odder) Chair thought as she watched the pair turn the corner and leaned tiredly up against the almost uncomfortably hot metal of her sun warmed truck as she waited for Modo's return.  
Fifteen minutes later a bare foot Chair (having chunked both heels in the back of the truck)  
Was more than relived to see him making his way back down the street towards her as she tugged uncomfortably at the collar of her blouse in the stifling heat.  
“I think we better get you back to your place and out of this heat’  
“You're not looking so good and I'm not feeling much better Myself” Modo said as he pulled his bike up next beside her.  
“So I've gone from pretty girl to not so good looking” Chair said a teasing smile curling the edges of her mouth as she walked over to stand next to the bike.  
Grateful the sidewalk wasn't hot enough yet to do more then make her feet uncomfortable. Chair studied the bike for a moment trying to figure out how exactly to climb up in the still restricting skirt.  
“That's not what I was trying to say” Modo said earnestly. Drawing Chair's attention and earning another smile at how cute and bashful the male became when he was flustered.  
“It's alright I know what you meant” Chair said much to the large males obvious relief.  
Chair gave his shoulder a gentle pat as she turned back towards the bike trying to work out how to proceed with her current clothing dilemma.  
“Something wrong?” Modo asked turning to stare at her curiously.  
“Well I've never been on a motorcycle before and I'm not really sure how I'm supposed to climb on with this skirt sausage-ing my legs the way it is” Chair said looking down at herself then back towards Modo questioningly.  
“I think I have a solution for that” Modo said with a chuckle moving his tail to wrap around Chair's waist and gently depositing her behind him sidesaddle on the bike before using his tail to pull her up against him more securely.  
“ Put your arms around my waist and hold on” he said revving the bike slightly.  
Hesitantly Chair wrapped her arms around his waist as they pulled out. Only to tighten them and press herself further against Modo in fear as the picked up speed.  
Causing the startled biker to swerve slightly as he felt Chair's Chest press firmly into his bare back, Blushing furiously Modo straightened the bike back out as he made his way back down the street. Swallowing thickly Modo called back to Chair over the roar of Lil Hoss's engine.  
“So where to ?” Modo asked risking a glance back when he received no answer. Finding chair clinging to him her eyes shut tight.  
“Hey now it's alright I've got ya, darlin.” Modo said giving Chairs waist a small squeeze with his tail.  
“An Lil Hoss here isn't one to throw passengers unless they give her good reason”He added with a chuckle as Chair cracked one eye open and scrunched her nose at him.  
“I promise to make a point to be on my best behaver then” Chair said Shakely as she finally relaxed her grip somewhat and sat back up.  
Modo gave another chuckle as he turned his attention fully back to road.  
“Were to?” Modo asked again picking up speed as Chair rattled off an address.  
Chair leaned back a bit more careful to still keep her hands firmly around Modo's waist as they moved down the road. The sensation of air moving around them a relief as it helped to cool her sweat damp skin.  
Chair looked up at the back of the biker in front of her noting the play of muscles visible under the dark grey of his fur and feeling the flexing of the six-pack adorning, his abdomen against the tips of her fingers where the rested around his waist as he shifted to maneuver the bike.  
(Geeze he was ripped) of course she already knew that from when they had meet before, but she'd forgotten just how tall and built he really was.  
All the mice had stood at least six feet and some odd inches but Modo himself had to be closer to seven feet. Chair thought as her eyes roamed back up him.  
Or maybe it was just more prominent now that she had an opportunity to study him a little closer up Chair mused.  
Before reminding herself that it was technically rude to ogle another individual so blatantly whether they we're aware of it or not.  
Chair found herself glade Modo's back was to her as a blush tinted her cheeks as she thought about when she'd been caught doing that very thing not even a whole week before upon their first meeting.  
Chair turned her attention to the safer scrutiny of the passing scenery as they made another turn down a mostly empty side street and Modo increased their speed a bit more the bikes engine drowning out the low rumble of thunder in far distance.


	4. [Chapter 4 Cold November Pain]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (W.W.T ) here again my dear’s with another chapter this has been fun I laughed a lot writing this one. For those of you wondering the reason this fic is rated mature even though the most that’s happened has been some minor swearing is because of things I have planned for future chapters. Also for the person who asked Chair’s name is not a typo (I’m sure I’ve made some “cough several” somewhere but that’s not one) She really is named Chair just like the piece of furniture you sit on, and yes Chair’s full name is awful but I have my reasons for it. That being said…or um written please enjoy the next chapter
> 
> Disclaimer: You know I know so let’s get on with the rodeo. I do not own Bmfm and I make no money from this story it is for entertainment purposes only .The only thing I do own is My Oc Chair and the idea for the story itself.

[Charley]  
Charley parked in her usual out of sight spot when she reached the field surprised when she didn’t see Modo already waiting for her. (He probably just took the long way) she thought as she turned to lift the small box of parts out of the back of the truck.  
She’d send Vinnie and Throttle down for the rest when she got up to the board. (Well maybe just Vinnie) Charley thought with a frown.  
Throttle hadn’t been looking so good before her and Modo had left to pick up the parts needed to repair the air conditioners and she was worried about him over doing it.  
Of course if she let on that that she was deliberately trying to coddle him in any way, the Martian male was liable to take it the wrong way and march out here to try an prove he was perfectly fine or some equally asinine he-man chest beating thing.  
Charley honestly didn’t want ether of the males to going out in the heat trying to prove how macho they we’re only to end up over doing it and making themselves sick or worse.   
Charley hoped Modo got back soon as well she knew he was probably just taking Lil Hoss for a brief ride to let the alien bike work out some boredom, but she worried about the large male even if he was tolerating the high temperatures better than the other two.   
Charley’s thoughts on the grey mouse were interrupted when she finally reached the entrance to the scoreboard and made her way inside.

[Chair/Modo]  
Chair breathed a sigh of relief as the faded and crumbling brick of her apartment building came into view.   
“This is it.” she said leaning forward and slightly to the side as the pointed it out to Modo.  
“ Here?” Modo asked glancing dubiously up at the building as he pulled Hoss over to the park next to the shabby looking apartment complex.  
A frown curling the edges of his mouth Modo stared around at the dilapidated state of the surrounding neighborhood before turning to give Chair a quizzical look as she stepped down from the back of the bike to stand on the cracked and broken cement of sidewalk in front of the rundown apartment.   
“This is the place” Modo said skeptically as Chair straightened up tugging bottom of her skirt into place as she stood.  
“ Yeah.” Chair said looking around at the surrounding area.  
“ I know it looks kind of rough but it had the one thing I needed when I was looking for a place.” Chair said looking up at Modo.  
“ Oh? What was that?” Modo asked glancing over at the building and then back at Chair curiously.  
“ It was Cheap .”Chair said with a shrug the corners of her mouth curling into the ghost of a smile.  
“ I’ll bet.” Modo said looking back up at the pock marked and graffiti covered building again.   
Chair shrugged again absently rubbing at her wrinkled skirt with one hand.   
“Well thank you for the ride.” Chair started biting her lip before continuing.   
“ I don’t suppose I could trouble you or one of your friends to pick me up again sometime tomorrow so that I could have a chance to talk to Charley about my truck do you?” Chair asked bouncing nervously on the heels of her feet.   
Chair worried her lip, as she stared up at the building a moment before glancing over at the large male out of the corner of her eye.  
“ It’s just I don’t actually have my own phone at the moment I’ve been using the payphone on the corner and when it comes to things like my truck I prefer to talk in person and…”Chair continued to babble nervously until Modo cut her off with a laugh.   
“Whoa! Relax and take a breath. It’s fine.” Modo said with a chuckle.  
“I’ll pick you up myself first thing in the morning if it’ll make you feel any better. It is more or less my fault you’re without your own ride at the moment. “He said with an apologetic expression.  
“ Well I suppose I could be gracious enough to let you take some of the responsibility for my current predicament” Chair said teasingly a relieved expression passing across her face.  
Modo laughed and smiled at Chair “.Alright I’ll see you tomorrow morning let’s say 8:00-ish see if we can’t get out and about before the worst of the days heat hits us.” He said revving the bikes engine getting ready to pull out.  
“Alright it’s a date.” Chair said with a grin turning towards the entrance to the apartment building, completely missing the odd expression that briefly flitted across the large bikers’ expressive face in response to her choice of phrasing.  
“Oh! Modo.” Chair said turning back around to face him again. “ I should be out here waiting for you. But if for any reason I’m not or you happen to get here early or something I’m in apartment ( 12 B) It’s the one at the end of the hall on the second floor.”  
“ Got ya apartment (12B) I’ll see you tomorrow morning take care ma’am” Modo said with a wave.   
Chair watched him pull out onto the street before turning and walking into the building and up the stairs to her apartment.  
The first thing Chair did upon shutting her apartment door (after hanging up her keys) was shimmy out of the awful skirt and chuck it directly into the garbage. Before making her way tiredly over to the bathroom shedding clothes as she went.  
Chair paused a moment to pull the handful of bobby pins that had come loose from the (at this point) disheveled knot on top of her head .Running her fingers through her hair in relief as the tension on her scalp released.  
Chair took a moment to study her reflection in the dingy bathroom mirror, noting the waxy past like look of her complexion and dark under eye circles the harsh light from the single bare bulb brought out.   
“Well I suppose could at the very least, I could make an attractive zombie.” Chair said depreciatively as she took in the haphazard fall of her curls as they framed her face in a wild mess of corkscrewed frizz.  
Turning Chair fiddled with nobs in the shower until the temp was tolerable stepping under the single stream of water .Letting it cascade through her hair and down her neck for a few minutes. Before laying her head tiredly against the stale wall and closing her eyes.   
“Today was a long day.” Chair muttered as the warm water helped to rinse the sweat from her skin.” But as they say tomorrow is another day.” Chair said out loud opening her eyes and reaching for the shampoo.   
“And things are bound to get better…right?” Chair said with false brightness as she squirted a quarter sized dollop of the green apple scented goo into the palm of her hands.  
“ Right?” Chair said again her face taking on a pensive look as she contemplated her own words.

[Modo]  
Modo arrived at the scoreboard just as the first dark clouds started rolling across the sky shading the field from the suns rays.  
Modo blinked up at the sky.” looks like I made it back just in time .” He said tucking his helmet under one arm as he wheeled his bike next to Throttle and Vinnies.  
“ Hope Charley girl didn’t have too much trouble getting those parts and the unit up here” Modo said as he walked into the part of the board the guys used as a sort of living/rec room.   
To find Charley talking animatedly to both Throttle and Vinnie her hands gesturing wildly.  
Vinnie looked up catching sight of Modo over her shoulder and broke out in a relieved grin. “Don’t look now sweetheart but I think our dilemma just walked through the front door and solved itself.”Vinnie said giving a nod in Modo’s direction.  
Charley spun around and let out a relieved sigh as she laid eyes on the grey mouse. “There you are I was starting to think something had happened to you.” Charley said making a beeline for the large biker.  
“ Sorry about that Charley ma’am I didn’t mean to cause you to worry.” Modo said apologetically placing a gentle hand on the mechanics shoulder and giving it a comforting squeeze.  
“ Worry might be a bit of an understatement there bro” Vinnie said coming up alongside the petite mechanic.  
“Charley girl here was just about two steps away from demanding an all-out attack on Limburgers half rebuilt tower just to make sure fish breath hadn’t gotten his fins on you.” Throttle added.  
“ I’m sorry about upsetting you Charley I honestly didn’t mean to take as long as I did.” Modo said looking down forlornly at the small women.   
“Oh …”Charley started looking up into Modo’s hangdog expression.  
“ It’s alright I’m not actually mad. I know you guys can pretty much take care of yourselves when you have to. But.. I just worry about you big lugs sometimes.”  
“ You know I care about you… about all of you, and I was just afraid you might have had a run in with that plutarkian slimeball and ended up in trouble or something .”Charley ended with a sigh looking almost embarrassed for having gone on so long about her feelings on the matter.  
Modo and his bro’s shared a quick look as he pulled Charley in for a quick hug. They all understood how hard that must have been for the female mechanic.   
Charley could be extremely demonstrative when it came to expressing affection, but openly vocalizing it was a completely different matter.  
She was always trying to present such a strong front, She’d had to owning and running her own business at such a young age as one of only a handful of female mechanics in all of Chi-Town on top of being located smack dab in the middle of one of the roughest neighborhoods in the area their Charley girl had, had to be tough just to survive.  
Charley pulled out of the hug a little awkwardly giving Modo’s chest a quick pat with the palm of her hand. Turning suddenly Charley started across the room at a brisk pace.   
Shaking her head and sighing as she passed a smiling Vinnie who opened his arm’s for a hug as well while waggling his eyebrows at her suggestively.  
“ Well if you boy’s will excuse me I’m going to get back to fixing these air conditioners for you before the heat fry’s any more of Vinnies brain cells.” Charley said kneeling down next to a scattering of parts and tools spread across the floor beside one of the malfunctioning air units.   
“Ouch! That hurts sweetheart it really does.” Vinnie said adapting a mock wounded tone and clutching at his chest.   
Charley glanced over at the white mouse and cocked one eyebrow, as she waited for the other shoe to drop.  
“Of course I’d be willing to forgive that if you offered to kiss me and make it better.” Vinnie added flexing one arm and grinning cheekily. Causing the mechanic to roll her eyes as she turned back to the parts she was working on.  
“ I’d tell you what you were welcome to kiss Vinnie but knowing you, you’d take it as an invitation.” Charley said dryly.  
“Oohoo denied again, I’m starting to sense a pattern here.” Vinnie said with a flinch as he shifted his attention to Modo.   
“So what did keep you out there so long big guy?” Vinnie asked.  
“Have to admit I was wondering the same thing myself there bro, even the long way round doesn’t usually take quite that long?” Throttle added looking over at Modo curiously.  
“ Yeah well… about that I may not of run into ole stink face per say, but I did find myself in a bit of a predicament.” Modo said turning to face the mouse leader.  
“ Everything alright Bro?” Throttle asked a concerned look passing across his face.   
“Well yes and no.” Modo said rubbing behind one ear before proceeding to explain about his run in with Chair and the resulting problem with her truck door.   
“I hope you don’t mind Charley but I sort of volunteered your services.” Modo added looking over at were Charley was still working on the fitting the last of the parts into the first air conditioning unit.   
Charley snapped the last piece of the disassembled unit into place turned away from the air conditioner with a satisfied grin,  
“ well that should just about do it.” Charley said wiping at her forehead as she looked towards the large martin.   
“And in answer to your question Modo by now you know me well enough to know the answer to that.” Charley added smiling over at him.  
“ Just don’t make a habit out of offering free tows to everyone you cause property damage to, or I’ll never make any money.” she said with a laugh turning to place the siding back on the finished unite.  
Modo gave a relieved smile in her direction,” Thanks Charley I appreciate it.” he said. Watching as Vinnie made his way over to help lift the bulky unit and carry it over to the space Charley had rigged up for it.   
“ It’s not a problem besides I actually kind of liked Chair she seemed…interesting.” Charley said with a smile as she absent mindedly rubbed at her back watching as Vinnie positioned and plugged in the air conditioner.  
“Yes! Its alive! ITS ALIVE!! Aahoohooa!!!” Vinnie crowed as the unit sputtered and then began blowing a steady stream of cool air. Much to the relief of the overheated males in the room,   
at that moment by a sharp resounding crack shook the walls . Followed by the lights flickering then going out, plunging the inside of the scoreboard into sudden darkness.  
After a moment of stunned silence Throttles voice cut through the inky blackness. “Well…isn’t this just peachy.” he said his voice a blend of sarcastic exasperation.  
The sounds of shuffling and shifting could suddenly be herd as they all slowly began making their way around in the dark.  
“You know if you’re scared of the dark Charley babe I could always hold your hand for you.” Vinnies said his voice floating up to the left of where he had last been standing.   
“Uh…Bro? ,That’s My hand.” Modo said dryly.  
“ Oh…I thought it felt a little manlier than usual Vinnie said awkwardly. , Hairier to he added. “  
“You could let go of it now you know.” Modo said exasperated.  
“Oh right sorry about that Bro.” Vinnie said with a forced laugh.   
“Not that there’s anything wrong with a little extra hair that is.” Vinnie suddenly went on.  
“ I could totally go for that all-natural European look at least when it comes to you Charley girl.” Vinnie said his voice suddenly switching places again.   
A loud sigh suddenly cut through the dark followed by Throttles voice. “ Wrong hands again Vincent” he said with a dry tone.   
The dark around them was suddenly broken by the beam of a flash light.  
“ You boys finished or do I need to turn the light back off so you can get back to playing seven minutes in heaven” Charley said wryly as she grinned over at the pair.  
As Vinnie giving an embarrassed laugh quickly released both of Throttles hands from where they’d been clutched in his own, Grinning awkwardly over at the tan mouse.   
Throttle continued to stare at him with one eye ridge raised a moment more, before shaking his head in exasperation at the younger mouse and making his way over to stand beside a still laughing Charley.   
“Alright all teasing and jokes aside let’s see if I can’t get the power back on and barring that figure out where we last stored that old generator, I rigged up for you guy’s during that bad bout of ice storms last winter.” Charley said gesturing for Throttle to follow her in the direction of the fuse box.  
“Think it’s just us this time or other parts of the city as well?” Modo asked making his way over towards the gap in the scoreboards face the Males used in place of a window.  
“ Don’t know” Charley grunted as she fiddled with the fuse box while Throttle held the light steady for her.  
“ But I know I pity anyone whose power may have just been knocked out. I know I wouldn’t want to be caught in this heat without some form of air fan based or otherwise.” Charley said giving a startled yelp and jumping back as something under her hands suddenly sparked.  
“You ok babe?” Throttle asked concernedly as Vinnie suddenly started in their direction.  
“Fine” Charley said absently rubbing at her fingers while she stared into the contents of the fuse box and furrowed her brow. “Looks like the generator it is” She said turning.  
Only to draw up short in surprise as Vinnie stopped in front of her and gently pulled her fingers towards his face, his expression series as he examined them a moment before giving her hand a mild squeeze and stepping to the side to let her by.  
Charley stared up at him curiously a moment as Vinnie with an almost sheepish look on his face, attempted to avoid eye contact with her.  
“ I think I remember seeing the generator over somewhere by the bikes” Modo said taking pity on Vinnies obvious embarrassment. Between the two of them Modo wondered if they’d ever actually get around to saying anything seriously about their feelings for one another.  
Turning away from Vinnie with a small frown Charley made her way carefully across the dark room. The white mouse watching her as she went his expression troubled, the sound of thunder rumbling the walls of the board, as rain began striking against the tin of the roof.

[Chair]  
Chair woke up groggily to the sounds of Rain hammering against the glass of her window. The sticky feel of the (now sweat drenched) T-shirt she’d worn to bed adding to her discomfort in the apartments almost stifling air.  
“ Gad what time is it?” Chair muttered as she rolled to her side to stare bleary at her little battery powered alarm clocks flashing red face.  
Unlike the air conditioning it at least she could count on to keep working even during a blackout like last night. Chair squinted just making out the numbers 7:45 through the blur of her sleep clouded vision.  
“ Crap!” Chair said shooting up. “ I over slept!!” she half shouted ,as she struggled to her feet and tried to force her still waking body in the direction of the bathroom on sheer will alone.  
“ Crap! Crap! Crap!” Chair muttered stumbling across the room.   
“SHIT!!!” She finished on a yell as she stubbed her toe against the door frame. Hopping on one foot the rest of the way into the small room.   
Chair had just enough light from the window to see by as She made her way over to the sink. Chair paused pulling her tooth brush and toothpaste out of the Mirror/medicine cabinet before stepping into the shower stall and tossing her clothes back out in a heap.   
Chair attempted to adjust the water temperature belatedly realizing that no power of course meant no hot water. Bracing herself Chair stepped under the cold spray anyway in the wild hope that it might help to wake her up further along with washing off the layer of sweat that had collected on her skin while she had tossed and turned during the night roasting in the apartment’s muggy air.  
Chair had just finished yanking her still damp hair up and dressing in a pair of black tights and an old denim tunic top when there was a knock on the door.   
“Crap!” Chair muttered again as she hurried across the room trying to put on her shoe’s as she went.  
“ One second!” Chair called as she tried to walk and yank the back of her slipper up at the same time nearly tumbling into the door as a result.  
“Ouch!!” Chair said pulling her hand back from where she’d braced it against the door frame to stare morbidly down at the inch long splinter protruding from it.  
“I was born under a ladder I just know it” Chair muttered darkly as she stared at it.   
“Umm…Chair? , You ok?” Modo said hesitantly his voice slightly muffled by the wood of the door.   
“Yeah!” Chair called back pulling the door open as she did and gesturing for the large male to come in.   
Modo stepped inside blinking as his eyes adjusted to the murky light filtering in through the dingy window. Pausing in place Modo glanced around curiously not saying anything as he examined Chair’s apartment.  
Chair turned to look at the small living space as well, giving an internal wince as she thought about how it must appear to him.  
Mattress on the floor and no furniture outside of a few boxes and one old folding auditorium seat in use as a catchall.( Heck her bathroom didn’t even have a door.) Chair thought with a cringe as she turned to look up at the Modo again.   
“Sooo…”Chair said as Modo turned back to face her. Suddenly nervous Chair wracked her brain for something to say before the silence stretched too long.  
Glancing down at her hand and then back up into Modo’s questioning gaze, Chair nodded in the direction of Modo’s Mechanical arm.  
“ I don’t suppose that thing comes equipped with tweezers does it?” Chair asked wryly as Modo’s eye shifted to focus on Chair’s palm and the piece of wood poking out from it.  
“ I’m starting to get the impression you’re a bit accident prone” Modo said as he examined Chairs hand a moment a concerned frown crossing his face.  
“That might just be a bit of an understatement” Chair said with a laugh.  
“Well how about it got any tweezers?” Chair asked again her tone half serious.  
“I’m sorry to say it doesn’t” Modo replied looking back up at Chair with a warm smile, “ but I’m pretty sure Charley girl does in the first aid kit at the shop.”   
“If you think you can wait until then?” Modo finished passing the extra helmet he’d been caring under one arm to Chair.  
“ I don’t think I have much choice there since I don’t have a pair of my own at the moment.” Chair replied as she stared down at the helmet touched he’d thought to bring it for her.   
“Well if you’re ready to head out I guess I am” Chair said gesturing to the door with a grin.  
Modo smiled back at her. “Alright let’s get this show on the road” he said motioning for Chair to exit the apartment first.

The ride to Charley’s didn’t take very long but the steady drizzle of rain had soaked both Modo and Chair fairly good.  
Chair shivered as she stepped out of the muggy drizzle into the air conditioned interior of the garage.   
“This is what I get for wishing for rain” Chair said as her teeth chattered together passing her helmet over to a contrite looking Modo.  
“Yeah sorry about the soggy ride” Modo said as he placed the spare helmet onto a small work bench before removing his own.   
“Where is everybody?” Chair asked looking around the empty garage curiously.   
“Their probably not back from picking up your truck yet is all, we all left about the same time so it shouldn’t be too long before they get here.” Modo said walking towards the door leading out of the main part of the garage and towards the cabinet were Charley kept the first aid kit.  
“In the meantime let’s see what we can do about that hand of yours” Modo said glancing over his shoulder as Chair followed him into the small nook.  
“ Oh I can do that Chair” said as Modo took her hand in his robotic one and lifted it up to get a better look at the sliver of wood lodged in the meat of her palm.   
Modo frowned at the small piece of wood a moment before looking back up at Chair,  
“You sound like Charley” Modo said with a chuckle as his gaze meet hers;  
“she doesn’t really like to have anybody fuss over her ether.” Modo said turning to rummage in the kit until he found the tweezers.   
Chair felt a blush spread across her cheeks not really used to having a male show this much attention to her. Modo shifted his focus intently to the palm of her hand as he tried to gently extract the small sliver from it.   
Needing something else to focus on Chair found herself studying the top of Modo’s head, or more precisely the two red protrusions sticking out from it.  
Her own curiosity finally getting the better of her Chair reached out and gently touched the tip of one antenna.  
Causing Modo to give a startled jerk at the same time he gripped the tip of the splinter with the tweezers.  
“ Ow!! “Chair yelped at the sharp pain that shot through her palm.   
“Sorry” Modo said dropping the tweezers and reaching out to snag Chair’s hand again as he turned it to see the injured area. Causing Chair to blush again as his breath ghosted across her palm as he bent down to view it better.  
“ I’m sorry to” Chair said looking at him in embarrassment.   
“I shouldn’t have just touched you like that; I don’t know why I can’t seem to keep my hands off you.” Chair mumbled.  
“It’s alright but for future reference, it’s not exactly considered polite to just suddenly touch that part of a Martians anatomy without permission. That area is…Sensitive” Modo said looking almost comically flustered as he gripped Chairs hand in his.  
A loud cough suddenly cut through the room.   
“Sorry to interrupt whatever exactly is going on here, but I thought I’d better let you two know we we’re back before whatever’s going on here progressed any further.” Vinnie said with a grin as he leaned against the wall right outside of the little nook.   
Chair stared over at the white mouse Blankley a moment before suddenly blushing scarlet as it dawned on her how the last bit of their conversation had probably sounded to someone just walking in on it.  
“That’s not.” Chair started   
Only to be cut off by Modo hastily Blurting out, “ I was just trying to pull a piece of wood out of her hand!” Modo said.   
“Whoa! whoa!! whoa!!! Hold up on Whatever you’re about to say Bro, I honestly don’t need or want any details concerning that part of your social life” Vinnie said raising his hands as if to ward off anymore words from the now equally red cheeked Martian .  
“WE WERENT DOING THAT!!!!” Chair half shouted causing both Vinnie and Modo to flinch.  
“I wouldn’t consider kissing a guy I just met let alone…”  
“I mean not that he isn’t cute but…”  
“What I mean is Modo was just… He was just…That is…I had a splinter.” Chair finished lamely while rubbing at her palm.   
An awkward silence stretched between them as the two males stared at an ever pinkening Chair.  
“You three do realize that we can all here you right?” Charley called from further out in the garage.   
Followed by the sound of Throttle openly laughing,  
“Aw come on Charley don’t go ruining the fun. I wanted to see how this played out.” He added with a soft chuckle.  
Chair suddenly found herself wishing adamantly for the floor to open up beneath her.


	5. Chapter 5 (Cry another day)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (W.W.T) I just want to say thank you to everyone who left a comment/review to let me know they were enjoying the story. I would also like to leave a special thank you for Youkai55 for all their help and advice I really appreciate it more than I can say. That being said Things are about to start picking back up at work and I’m afraid my posting schedule may become a bit more sporadic I will still be working on future chapters. I’m just not sure when I’ll be able to get them edited and uploaded so please bear with me for a bit there’s going to be more my over active imagination will be sure to see to that. But in the meantime please enjoy the next chapter.
> 
> Disclaimer: Bmfm not mine (except Oc and story Idea) need sleep I stayed up late working on this no sue Zzzzzzzz….

[The gang plus one]  
Throttle leaned forward on his bike folding his arms across the handle bars as the chagrined trio came out from the small area that Charley used to store a handful of odds and ends items (including the first aid kit).  
“You know Bro” Throttle said addressing Vinnie.   
“It’s not very nice to go around accusing guests of things along those particular lines” Throttle said the corners of his mouth curling up.  
Vinnie shrugged looking only mildly apologetic.   
“Not my fault if what I remember best about Ms. Itchy fingers is her tendency to grab first and ask questions later” Vinnie said breaking out in a grin as he shot Chair a glance over his shoulder.   
Chair narrowed her eyes back at him while tamping down on the grade school urge to stick her tongue out at him.  
Vinnie wisely choose to increase his pace as Chair’s foot suddenly came dangerously close to tromping on the tip of his tail.  
Prompting a surprised yelp from the younger mouse, and a laugh from Charley and Throttle as a subdued and still mildly blushing Modo brought up the rear of the group.   
“Serves you right for picking on them” Charley added from where she stood next to Throttle, as Vinnie quickly made a beeline across the garage and away from the irate Chair to stand safely behind the mouse leader and Mechanic.   
“Don’t pay him much mind” Charley said shifting her attention from the hightailing mouse to Chair where she stood across the room shooting daggers in the white mouse’s direction.  
“He’s just trying to get a rise out of you” Charley said drawing Chairs attention away from Vinnie.   
Vinnie Snorted, “It sounded more to me like she was trying to get a rise out of Mmmmph….”he started only to cut of mid-sentence as Throttle reached out to cover Vinnie’s mouth with his hand.   
“Ignore him, his self-preservation instincts are on the frits” Throttle said giving Chair an apologetic glance.  
“ Kid crashed his bike one too many times without a helmet .”Modo added dryly stepping up next to Chair, Who offered him a small smile in return.  
“ Well that explains a lot” Chair said a touch of humor coating her voice as she angled another glare in Vinnies direction.   
Vinnie’s muffled “(Hey!)” Could just be made out from behind Throttles hand as he made a face back in Chair’s direction.   
“Cool it Bro or from the looks of that glare she’s shooting in your direction, you keep this up and Modo’s not going to be the only one trying to pepper your hide with laser beams.” Throttle said keeping his hand firmly in place an extra minute, to make sure Vinnie wasn’t about to open his mouth and insert both his feet again before finally releasing him.   
Vinnie rubbed at his mouth and chin a moment before leaning over to roughly shove the mouse leader causing him to stumble back a step.  
Throttle promptly pushed him back the process repeating itself until the abrupt shoving match finally devolved into all out wrestling.  
Taking in Chairs startled expression at the sudden turn of events Modo half-heartedly called out for them to knock it off as he made his way across the garage with the intent of breaking up the small skirmish.  
Reaching the two Modo bent down to pull them apart only to stumble back as a stray limb happened to catch him squarely across the jaw.   
Rubbing at his sore chin Modo looked back at Chair a grin suddenly splitting his face.  
“Well you know what they say if you can’t beat em!’” he said with a shrug before diving into the Malay head first with an excited whoop!   
Charley made her way carefully over to Chair side stepping the rolling mess of Martians with practiced ease as they flipped and slammed themselves exuberantly around the garage.   
Chair openly stared in stunned bewilderment her mouth slightly agape as she took in the bizarre site for a few more minutes before turning her befuddled gaze to Charley.  
“Is…this a regular occurrence? “She asked the mechanic as Charley came to a stop next to her.   
“Afraid so.” Charley answered as the two women continued to watch the males wrestle in an every roughening display of testosterone.   
“Should we stop them?” Chair asked biting her lip as she looked back over at Charley in concern.   
“With what a tank?” Charley asked wryly, before taking in Chairs worried expression.   
“Hey Relax they do this all the time they’re just playing.”  
“It’s like… a Martian bonding thing. Nobody ever actually gets hurt.”  
“Heck I’ve actually played with them before, for all the roughness they display they can also be surprisingly careful” Charley said.  
Right before a resound crash echoed throughout the garage causing the mechanics shoulders to slump as a long suffering expression crossed her face.  
“Of course that same care doesn’t always extend to the surrounding furniture or walls” Charley added on a sigh.  
As she refocused on the rolling mass of fury limbs and tails as the males finally came to a stop in a laughing panting heap at the feet of the two females.  
The males suddenly found themselves looking up into Charley’s carefully blank face as she stared down at them arms crossed.  
“ You furbrains are planning on cleaning that up now aren’t you? “Charley said her tone almost deceptively sweet.   
“Uh oh bro’s Modo” said looking up at her.   
“I know that tone” Vinnie muttered from where he lay flopped with both eyes closed.   
“Charley babe this wouldn’t happen to be one of those situations where it sounds like you’re asking?” Throttle started.  
“ But I’m really not.” Charley finished raising one eyebrow as she glared down at the mouse leader.   
“Just what do think smart guy?” Charley asked as she continued to stare down at the males.   
“I think …that we’re going to get started cleaning that up right away Right Bro’s” Throttle said with a nervous laugh as Modo and Vinnie chimed in with their own affirmatives.  
“Good while you three take care of that, Chair and I will go discus what all needs to be done, when it comes to fixing up her truck” Charley said turning away and motioning for Chair to follow her to the section of the garage where her truck was located.  
[15 minutes later]  
“Is It really going to cost that much?” Chair asked as she stared down at the slip of paper Charley had totaled up the (discounted) labor and parts on for her flinching as she compared it to the parsley sum left in her bank.  
(Even if she cleaned out the remainder of both her savings and checking account the combined amount still wouldn’t cover more than half of it.) Chair thought morosely.  
Charley stared over at Chair contemplative a moment; “well…you said you’re between jobs at the moment right?” Charley asked waiting as Chair slowly nodded her head.  
Charley stared at her a few more minutes as she obviously mulled something over. Chair fidgeted nervously biting her lip as she watched Charley’s face wondering what the young mechanic was thinking.   
“I can more or less tell by the look on your face that even with the discounts on parts and me almost working for free that you don’t really have the money to cover the repairs” Charley finally said.  
“You can tell that just by my face?” Chair asked curiously glancing over at the younger women.   
“Well I wouldn’t recommend poker as a game of choice for you anytime soon” Charley said with a small smile before continuing,   
“What I would like to recommend is a trade” Charley added.   
“A trade for what?” Chair asked looking over at Charley quizzically.   
“A trade of services, yours for mine.” Charley said with a shrug.   
“As you can imagine the guys can be a bit of a handful to keep up with and as a result, I’ve gotten behind on a few things” Charley answered.   
“Well I’m more than happy to agree…but I’m afraid my skills with a wrench would leave more than a few things to be desired.” Chair said wryly.   
Causing Charley to laugh   
“That’s not exactly what I meant. You mentioned applying to be a receptionist earlier and what I’m asking wouldn’t be that different.”  
“ I need someone to answer the phone and reschedule clients for the times I’m available . Maybe help me straighten out some of the paper work that’s piled up around here, before I misplace something important and end up audited” Charley said.  
“ At least we could give it a trial run you already know about the guys so that’s out of the way and after the parts are payed of and If it looks like it’s working out, maybe I could hire you on part time for a while at least until you find something else.” Charley added looking over at Chair.  
“So… basically what you’re telling me is not only will you fix my vehicle for free, but you also want to offer me a job a paying JOB! Simply to stay here and answer the phones while you’re out.”  
“Write down a few messages and maybe sort some papers for you?” Chair asked calmly while staring at Charley.  
“That would be a Yes” Charley said watching Chair closely for any indication of interest.   
“ Sooo…What do you say?” Charley asked as a small silence stretched between them.  
“I say pinch me because I think I’m dreaming and baring that… I say HELL YES!!!” Chair finished on an enthusiastic cry.   
Suddenly lunging forward and hugging the other women. “I’m so happy I could kiss you!” Chair said her hands still on a startled Charley’s shoulders.   
“Hey wait a second hand’s off!!!” Vinnie cried as he quickly stepped around the corner broom in hand, only to draw up short his expression conflicted and almost pained as he took in the sight of the two women so close together.  
“ I think you girl’s may have just broke” Vinnie Throttle added with a laugh as Vinnie continued to stare dumbfounded at the two females as if waiting for the mentioned kiss.   
“Kid probably doesn’t know whether to be jealous or just upset he doesn’t have his camera” Modo added coming around the corner and waving on hand in front of the stunned white mouse’s face.   
Realizing the predicament at the same time Chair quickly released Charley’s shoulders as the mechanic took a hasty step back both women looking at the stunned mouse a moment before turning to face the other and bursting out into laughter.   
“It’s just an expression…But I’ve really got to start doing a better job of keeping my hands to myself” Chair said winding down from her laughing fit and grinning over at Charley.  
“I’ll say!” added Vinnie snapping out of his stupor.   
“You’ve already gone after the big guy here and Throttle and now you’ve got your hands all over Charley girl” Vinnie finished crossing his arms indignantly.   
Charley’s eyes suddenly flashed with mischief as she looked over at Chair the corners of her mouth curling up.  
“If I didn’t know any better I’d say you were feeling a bit left out there Vinnie” Charley said the ghost of a smile curling the edges of her lips as she glanced over at the white mouse .   
“It must be hard on that ego of yours since Chair hasn’t done more than glance at you.” Charley added her eyes glinting with amusement.  
That’s not what I mea…Vinnie started to say only to cut off as Chair suddenly spoke up.  
“You know I can remedy that for you” Chair said taking her cue from Charley’s tone and stepping in Vinnies direction causing him to stumble backwards and hold up his hands as if to fend her of.  
Charley lost her composer at the same time Chair did both females briefly making eye contact before bursting into a fit of giggles clueing Vinnie into the lack of intent behind the suggestion.   
Vinnie quickly tried to cover his nervous retreat with a cough turning to cross his arms and huff in agitation when this only served to make the other inhabitants of the garage laugh harder at the white mouse’s discomfited state.   
“ So?” Chair said as she turned back towards Charley. “When do I start?”  
[Chair two weeks later]  
“I’m sorry sir.”  
“The last Chance’s mechanic is out at the moment and I’m not sure when exactly she’ll be back.”  
“You said this is …Bert? Correct?”  
“Ok hold on one moment...Yes! Found it! She did leave a note here stating the parts you ordered should be in sometime this Friday if that’s any help. Ok yes…you’re welcome Goodbye.”  
Chair gave a relieved sigh as she hung up the Phone before leaning back in her seat and stretching out the kinks in her spine.  
Charley and the guys had headed out earlier that morning something about trouble with a plastic and silicone dissolving… (Purple blob creature?) decimating down town Chicago.   
Chair glanced up at the clock for what must have been the 8th time in the past hour feeling a tinge of worry as she noted how much time had passed since they had left.  
Needing a distraction Chair stood up and walked across the garage and flicked on the radio fiddling with the dial a moment until she picked up a station that wasn’t hard rock or metal.   
The guys usually dominated the music selections for the day refereed every now and then by an exasperated Charley when she’d decided she’d had enough.   
Chair actually didn’t mind the rock but she understood where Charley was coming from. There was only so much Metalicrank a person could take in a day before they started craving a little peace and quiet.   
But since there was no one here at the moment to protest the station change that more or less freed things up for Chair to make her own musical selections.  
“ While the mice are away…”Chair said turning up the volume as the first notes of Steve winwood’s Higher love began coming through the speakers.   
Chair took a few steps back as the music filled the room nodding her head slightly to the upbeat tune a moment before throwing in a small hip shimmy feeling the urge to move along with the song sweep over her as it picked up.  
Chair gave in to the need to dance, kicking off her shoes and moving out into the garage where she had more room to maneuver.   
Chair loved to dance it was one of the few things that made her forget how clumsy and awkward she often felt.   
It was also the one thing guaranteed to help take her mind of her concern for (a certain grey furred Martian) and the rest of her new friends.  
Going up on her toes Chair started with few basic moves to shake the dust off so to speak feeling her body fall into the familiar rhythm as the moves and music swept through her.   
Chair moved across the room in a series of pique turns before shifting into a double pirouette that rapidly devolved into a pump turn as the songs tempo picked up.  
Chair smiled feeling the thrill dancing had always given her as she lost herself in the moment and moved on instinct her steps and moves becoming more elaborate as she went.  
Chair closed her eyes as she felt the song winding down finishing on another double pirouette and coming to wrest in the center of the garage freezing in a croise position as the last notes died out.  
Chair beamed her breathing harsh as her racing heartbeat slowly returned to normal.  
Chair opened her eyes only to find herself staring into Modo’s startled gaze feeling a blush spread across her Cheeks as she took in the equally stunned expressions of Charley and the other two males behind him as well.   
(That’s it I’m getting my hearing checked. I mean honestly how often am I going to miss them pulling up on those damn bikes. It’s not exactly like they have a silent mode) Chair thought ruefully.  
(Although Chair honestly wouldn’t put it past Charley to eventually add some form of stealth function to them down the road.)  
“Uh…Hi” Chair said self-concisely as they continued to gape at her.   
Vinnie seemed to recover the quickest from his stupor breaking the awkward silence with a drawn out whistle.   
“Wow those are some moves you got there doll.” He started only to be cut off by an excited Charley.  
“That was amazing! Where did you learn to dance like that?! “She asked side stepping around Vinnie and making a beeline across the garage to Chair.   
“Oh …uh well I studied ballet along with other forms of dance since I was a little girl” Chair said looking into the excited face of the slightly taller women.  
“Wait! Why are we talking about this?”  
“What happened with the blob monster!?” Chair asked suddenly concerned as she took in the goop splattered group around her.  
“Oh that? That’s taken care of” Charley said dismissively as if defeating giant destructive masses of evil where an almost everyday occurrence.   
(Which Chair supposed for them they kind of were.)  
Charley pulled Chair further into the garage followed closely by a curious Vinnie as she continued to ask Chair about her dancing.   
Chair glanced briefly over her shoulder once in Modo’s direction before turning back to try and answer some of Charley’s rapid fire questions.   
Modo stood perfectly still as he stared after the two earth females mildly stunned by the unusual and oddly alluring sight of Chair’s dancing and the expression of pure joy that had painted her features as she had finished.  
In fact Modo continued to stand in place even as Throttle moved from where he’d been observing the whole exchange (including Modo’s reaction to Chair) to come up beside the large Martian.   
Throttle chuckled as he took in Modo’s expression reaching up to clap the stunned male across the shoulder breaking the male out of his almost trance like state.   
“You might want to close your mouth Bro.”  
“You’ll catch flies like that” Throttle said a knowing smile ghosting his lips as he thought about his own reaction the first time he’d seen Carbine in full temper her beautiful eyes lit up and flashing as she bawled him out.  
(Although he doubted the obvious display of arousal he’d been sporting afterword’s much to their equal embarrassment had been what she was aiming for) Throttle thought wryly before he followed the women and Vinnie into the garage.  
Modo blinked coming back to himself his demeanor taking on a somewhat abashed air as he followed after the rest of the group.  
[Charley and Chair gradually joined by the others]

 

“You said you studied ballet for years and from what I just saw you’re really good.”  
“If you don’t mind me asking why aren’t you trying to find a position with a dance company or something like that?” Charley asked curiously as she watched Chair fiddle nervously with a stack of papers on the desk.  
“Well…”Chair hedged a moment as she tried to think of a way to explain her situation.   
“I love dancing and I spent years learning different forms of it, but ballet was always the one I came back to.”  
“It was the main reason I wanted to do any of it. I dedicated a good portion of my time learning and perfecting as many parts of it as I could.”  
“My grandfather even found me a private instructor a good friend of his to help me with the parts he couldn’t teach me himself.”  
“In fact after completing my lessons with his and her encouragement I actually spent a couple years trying to get into some of the private dance and ballet studios just here in the area.”  
“But even though I know my Choreography and my moves are performed correctly I’ve never made it past the initial try outs and auditions. “Chair said her voice slowly dropping in pitch but still clear.  
“Why on earth not? I may not know a lot about the finer points of ballet but even I can tell your good” Charley asked bewildered.  
“ Part of it’s just me…I guess” Chair said with a shrug.  
“ I’m not what their looking for when it comes to dancers” Chair finished her voice taking on a dejected note.   
“What do you mean? “Charley asked.  
Modo subconsciously took a step forward becoming concerned as he watched Chair’s expressive face take on a hurt almost guarded look as she gave an almost nonchalant shrug before answering.  
“There are certain body aesthetics associated with being a ballet dancer that for obvious reasons… I just don’t fit” Chair answered her deceptively neutral tone of voice at odds with the hurt expression playing across her face.  
“ Because of that I’m normally counted out before I even get a chance to perform or show my skills” Chair said as she studied the papers in her hands carefully avoiding eye contact with the group around her.   
“But you know as they say… Those who can’t do teach and that’s actually what I did for a bit at my great Grandfathers studio in-between auditions.” Chair said her voice taking on a slightly false upbeat tone to try and cover up the break in it.  
Chair suddenly went on her voice and expression becoming distant.  
“Only the studio had a sudden drop in clients and we fell into dept.…With all the added stress financially …coupled with other things Gee-gee’s health took a turn for the worse.”  
“He tried to play it off but I could tell it really weighed on him as it got harder and harder for us to scrape together what was needed just to stay open.”   
“We did everything we could think of to try and keep the studio afloat long enough for things to pick back up we took in new clients for a fraction of the cost to try and drum up business.”  
“Increased the number of sessions and private dance classes we offered. I even took extra dance tutoring jobs on the side just to try and cover our basic day to day living expenses.”  
“In the end though it just wasn’t enough which was devastating, because for us it was more than a just studio it was our home.”   
My Grandfather loved that place he and my grandmother opened it together when they came over from Italy …he spent almost his entire adult life in it.”  
“Hell some of my own best childhood memory’s where in it and I honestly think that when he realized we weren’t going to be able to save it… It broke his heart and he just sort of lost the will to go on and one day he just didn’t wake up.” Chair said her voice cracking a bit as she went on.”  
“Then what with the left over medical expenses coupled with the cost of the funeral arrangements. I just didn’t have the money to keep it open by myself anymore and I had no choice but to sell it.”  
“Along… with almost everything else we had owned just to pay off a portion of the debt.”  
“After that I just kind of had to put everything else on hold to try to find something to pay the bills and help get the dragons off my back so to speak.”  
“At least until I can get my feet back under me” Chair said re- straightening the already straightened papers before chancing a glance at the group around her.  
Chair felt a twinge of guilt as she took in their melancholy expressions (When they had wanted to know about her dancing she was more than certain they hadn’t been expecting her unload all those particular gloomy details of the last couple months of her life on them).   
“Sorry guys I know that story’s no exactly a happy one it honestly wasn’t my intent to bring the mood down” Chair said remorsefully as she took in the dejected group around her.   
“You don’t need to say sorry for that” Modo said meeting her gaze his own tender.   
“I’m sorry to hear about your grandfather” he said empathetically.  
“Thank you” Chair replied sincerely as she stared up at him.   
“For what it’s worth I think you dance beautifully” Modo finished causing Chair’s cheeks to tint slightly as she shifted her focus back to the papers on the desk.   
“Thank you” Chair said again quietly.   
“Well I personally think the people who turned you down without giving you a real shot are complete idiotis .” Charley added stepping forward to give Chairs arm a comforting squeeze.  
“I’m with Charley girl on that one” Throttle said nodding in Chairs direction  
“That’s for sure” Vinnie chimed in.  
“Would you like us to go talk to Em’ for you?” Modo asked a mischievous glint entering his eye as the laser on his mechanical arm popped out Causing Chair to laugh openly.  
“No thank you Modo but I appreciate the offer” Chair said smiling up at the Martian biker an answering grin spreading across his face as he watched her.  
Charley subtly tried to catch Throttle and Vinnies eye as the burley biker and height challenged dancer continued to tease and exchange quips almost oblivious to the others in the room.   
It was obvious to Charley and anyone else watching that the two liked each other. (Heck Modo had made it a point to pick Chair up and take her home himself exclusively for the last two weeks.)  
He’d even gone so far as to turn down Charley’s offer to take Chair home in the evenings so that he could just head back to the board with the other males , stating that he and Hoss could really use the extra run time at the moment. In spite of the fact they had been out tearing it up almost daily since the heatwave finally broke.   
(If that didn’t scream interest Charley didn’t know what did.)  
But with Modo to shy and polite to make anything even resembling an actual move, coupled with the fact that Chair seemed to be completely clueless to the fact that he was sincerely interested in her and not just being nice.  
Charley really felt that they could use a bit of a nudge in the right direction so to speak and failing that maybe a little more time together in a more relaxed setting would help them work it out.   
Failing to catch the attention of the other Martian males to enlist their help Charley decided to take a little of the matchmaking initiative onto herself.   
“Chair instead of going straight back to your apartment this evening how about joining us for movie night this evening?” Charley suddenly asked Catching the other women of guard.  
“Uh..well yes. I mean…That...sounds like fun actually I’d love to” Chair answered enthusiastically glancing around at the younger women in surprise at the sudden out of the blue invitation.   
“With everything else that I’ve needed to take care of lately I haven’t been able to pick up something as non-essential as a TV and I have to admit, I’ve kind of missed it.” Chair finished turning back to the group.  
“How can you consider something as awesome as Television a non-essential!?!” Vinnie asked aghast.  
“ Well a roof over my head was my first priority and food my next. Then this whole mess with my truck happened and it honestly just hasn’t made my list of needs yet.” Chair said with a chuckle as she took in the white mouse’s horrified expression.  
“But…What on earth or mars do you do in the evenings …after Modo drops you off?” Vinnie continued flabbergasted by the thought that Chair just went back to her apartment at the end of the day and just did…whatever it was people who didn’t have tv’s did.  
Chair lost what was left of her composer at Vinnie’s scandalized tone an subsequent expression and burst out laughing.   
“It’s not that bad!” Chair gasped out as she caught her breath  
“You’re acting as if I just go back to my apartment and sit in the dark like a lump every evening.”  
“I can assure you I don’t” Chair said with a smile wiping at her eye.  
“Well what do you do?” Vinnie asked as he moved up beside charley.  
“I do a variety of different things.”  
Even though I’m not currently dancing I still do stretches and calf strengthening exercises every day, and I practice what few moves I can in the limited space I have in my apartment.”  
“ I also have a handful of these wonderful old fashioned entertainment devices called books.” Chair added her voice taking on a teasing tone as Vinnie made a sour face at her answer.  
“No offense but that sounds boring as He..Ouaff!!” Vinnie finished on a wheeze as Charley’s elbow suddenly connected with his ribs.  
“What? I said no offense” Vinnie said irately as he glared down at the auburn haired women next to him while rubbing at his abused side.  
Chair smiled over at the two as they began to whisper heatedly (well Charley whispered and Vinnie muttered back audibly ruining any subtlety about the argument on the mechanics part.)  
“I guess it can get a little old after a bit …”  
“There really are only so many times a person can read through Gone with the wind War of the worlds and even the hitch hikers guide to the galaxy before they start to get a bit burnt out.” Chair said with a shrug  
“At this point I have to admit a movie with friends does sound pretty wonderful.” She continued turning to look back over at Modo as he shifted to lean his hip against the side of the old desk.  
“Sorry” Modo said apologetically as he looked over at Chair.  
“For what?” Chair asked confused.  
“I’ve been in your apartment a few times now but it didn’t occur to me that you were so limited on things to do there and …Here I’ve just been taking you straight back every evening thinking you were tired.”  
“ It never even crossed my mind to invite you for movie night or anything else like that and …I’m sorry I wasn’t trying to exclude you or anything like that” Modo answered sadly.  
Chair didn’t even pause to completely take in the lengthy reply Modo’s forlorn expression tearing at her. Moving over chair gave his arm an affectionate pat.  
“Hey don’t take go lumping everything up on those broad shoulders of yours big fella.”  
“If it had been bothered me to badly I would have said something about it by now.”  
“Honestly I’ve just been psyched that I have a job and get to hang out with you guys during the day these past two weeks have been pretty surreal.” Chair said giving the large Martian a heartfelt smile.  
Modo found he was unable to resist the grin from the cute female and felt his own answering one spread across his face in return.  
Just then Chair and Modo’s attention was drawn back to the other occupants of the garage as the argument between Charley and Vinnie went up an octave.  
As the Martian male crossed some invisible line or another and auburn haired women’s volatile temper suddenly kicked in. Causing Vinnie to start babbling his hands up slightly as he realized his mistake and quickly tried to back track.  
Failing that the white mouse abandoned his attempts to placate an increasingly irate Charley and bolted in a less than dignified sprint across the room followed closely by the fuming mechanic as she rapidly pursued him across the garage.  
Vinnie realizing there was no escape in retreat instead attempted to hide behind a startled Throttle as a wrathful Charley descended on them.   
Throttle’s his well-honed self-preservation instincts kicking in as he took note of Charley’s volatile mood wisely gave up any pretenses at merely protesting Vinnies choice of hiding places.   
And quickly reached behind him to snag the other male shove him back out front to take the brunt of whatever verbal assault the fiery young woman had planned.  
Modo and Chair watched this scene unfold with no small amount of amusement (at Vinnie’s expense of course) as the white mouse continued trying to duck and hide behind the Martian leader as an increasingly frustrated charley pursued him in an every tightening circle around the dizzying Throttle.  
“Sooo…”Chair started after a moment of observing the humorous sight.  
“What exactly are we watching tonight?”  
“Because personally I’m not so sure any film currently on earth could hold up to this level of entertainment.” Chair said gesturing in the direction of the trio before looking up at the much taller male next to her.  
Earning a laugh from the grey furred male as he turned to look at her.   
“Well now seeing as it’s my turn to pick and I chose one of my personal all-time favorite terrain film series I’m almost offended.” Modo replied with a mock wounded tone.  
“Oh?” Chair said surprised.  
“What did you pick to watch?” she asked curiously.  
Modo grinned down at her before replying his voice dropping down a notch as he took on a faux British accent.   
“Bomb” he said his grin spreading.  
James Bomb.


	6. ( For your " Bionic Arms" Only)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ( W.W.T) here again. Things have been picking back up with work prepping for the New Year and I'm afraid that I am currently more than a little tuckered out, but seeing as today was my birthday. I wanted to go ahead and try to finish up and get the next chapter up as sort of present for myself and anyone else who's enjoying this story as well. It's not perfect and it has a few clichés, but I like it anyway so here you go my dears please enjoy. (Also a special shout out to youkai55 whose reviews I look forward to.)
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Bmfm so please don't sue ...cause all you'll actually get is… some (hold on let me check my pockets) a lent covered mint an old gum wrapper and two pennies. That being said my Oc Chair and The idea for this story are mine as well as any spelling/grammatical errors contained within it.

Excited about the evening ahead Chair put together a tray of traditional movie snacks at the kitchen counter humming a bit of the mission impossible theme as she did.

(Mostly because she didn't actually know any songs from the bomb films)

Before heading out into the living room accompanied by Throttle and Vinnie their arms equally loaded down with an assortment of root beer and hotdog condiments to set up in front of the Tv, While Modo finished (laser cooking) the dogs with Charley in the garage.

When Chair had asked about why they didn't just do the cooking in the kitchen, Vinnie had mentioned that laser cooked hotdogs tasted the best but do to a bit of a mishap.

(Involving something along the lines of hotdog skeet shooting and a small kitchen fire)

Charley no longer permitted them to laser cook anything in her kitchen anymore. Reaching the den Chair placed the snacks down on the well-worn coffee table the tray making a soft plink as it connected with the scuffed wooden top.

While Chair began arranging the snacks for easy access during the movie , Vinnie his arms overloaded with an assortment of bottles and sauces on his way to the table snagged the toe of one of his boots on the den rug fumbling one of the root beers he was carrying as he attempted to regain his footing.

"Heads up!" Vinnie cried as he made a grab for the free falling bottle of pop trying not drop any of the other items in his hands during the process.

At that moment Modo walked into the room carrying a tray of hotdogs his tail quickly whipping out and snagging the fizz loaded bottle out of the air as he walked by before it connected with the floor.

"Careful Bro or the kitchen won't be the only place Charley won't let us in un-supervised." Modo said as he set the hotdogs down on the table and turned popping the top of the root beer bottle as he finished speaking and took a swig.

Throttle gave a chuckle as he placed his own armful of items on the table next to the snacks Chair had brought in.

"We leave Vinnie to his own devices to long and Charley won't be willing to let us stay in the city of Chicago let alone the Last Chance" He added with a teasing grin as he straightened back up to glance over at the younger mouse.

Chair still not completely used to the Martian males more (physical take on playful banter) yelped in surprise and scrambled out of the line of fire as Vinnie in lieu of a response tossed a bottle of mustard in Throttles direction, causing the tan mouse to dodge to the side to avoid the saucy missile.

Throttle side stepping quickly to avoid being clipped, accidently bumped into Chair knocking her off balance.

"Ack!" Chair gave a shrill Cry as she suddenly found herself pitching forward head first into a startled Vinnie, who dropped everything, he was holding in order to grab her, and keep her from falling face down on the floor.

Bottles of root beer and other Items clanged and pinged musically against the floor as Charley appeared in the doorway holding a game box of some kind.

"Thanks for carrying the dogs in for me Modo, while I hunted this down… I know we've got the movie planned and everything but I was thinking a game might be fun as well and I was wondering if you guys…would like to play…Twister?" Charley asked trailing off as she took in the mess of scattered items spreading across her den floor.

Before focusing in on the sight of Vinnie trying to disentangle himself from Chair and set her back on, her feet. Only to have her plucked out of his arms by an irate looking Modo as he alternated shooting a reproving glare between him and Throttle.

Modo grumbled something about bone headed males not knowing how to act around ladies before proceeding to place a somewhat flustered looking Chair down on the couch.

Modo shot the males in the room another look over his shoulder before taking a seat next to her himself, his weight causing the cushion to dip slightly as he settled next to her.

Throttle rubbed sheepishly at the back of his head a moment as he looked back and forth between the slightly ruffled female and the aggravated Male sitting next to her.

"Sorry about that Chair we have a tendency to play a bit rough around here sometimes, didn't mean to catch you in the middle of it though our bad." He said glancing back at Chair.

"My bad actually, Sorry about that doll no hard feelings" Vinnie added interrupting the mouse leader as he bent down to start picking up the mess of items off the floor.

Charley gave a snort of disbelief as she entered the room the rest of the way walking up to stand beside Vinnie.

"I've known you three motor heads going on nearly four years now and I don't remember you ever apologizing to me for stunts twice as wild ,as I 'm sure whatever this one was." Charley said giving Chair a friendly smile as she finished letting her know there was no real hurt or heat behind the comment.

"Ah come on Charley that isn't fair, it's not the same thing. Like you just said, you've been around us way longer, and you're nearly as rough around the edges as we are" Vinnie replied looking over his shoulder while reaching under the table to snag one of the dropped bottles of root beer.

"Well that's great to hear Vinnie… every girl just wants to be told she doesn't count as a lady because she's practically one of the guys." Charley said with dry sarcasm as she watched the white mouse feel around under the table.

Charley eyed Vinnie's crouched form irritably a second her eye's narrowing slightly before suddenly smacking him soundly on the bottom with the game box as his attention shifted back towards the elusive bottle of pop just out of his reach.

Charley fought against the somewhat smug smile that wanted to appear as the unexpected action startled the white mouse causing him to bang his head sharply against the underside of the table making him swear under his breath before looking up at her in shock his mouth slightly agape.

Charley her expression carefully neutral continued on as if nothing out of the ordinary had just happened and went about placing the twister box on the coffee table next to the hotdogs,

before making her way over to the other side of the couch to sit next to an amused Throttle who simply raised one of his brows above his glasses at her.

Vinnie recovering quickly stood up rubbing at the sore spot on top of his head. " Aw come on Sweetheart you know I didn't mean it like that" Vinnie said sounding contrite.

"Modo's little doll there just doesn't strike me as having been down off the shelf that often and she startles kind of easy. I felt bad for spooking her is all" Vinnie added with a small gesture in Chair's direction.

Breaking out of her flummoxed state at the white mouse's odd comment Chair glanced up at Modo quizzically as Vinnie continued trying to placate an irate Charley.

" Umm…I'm your, what now?" Chair asked, watching as the large grey male flushed and tensed before looking around almost desperately.

"Oh..uh?" Modo hedged a second looking mildly panicked as Chair stared up at him.

"You know Vinz probably just saying whatever pops into his head to try and get out of the hole he's dug for himself."

"Excuse me I'm going to go get the movie set up!" Modo said hopping up to quickly make his way over to the entertainment center on the other side of the room, leaving Chair to stare after him quizzically, Wondering briefly what had gotten into him before she refocused on the small drama that was winding to an end between Charley and Vinnie.

Modo fought the urge to flick Vinnie in the back of the head with his tail as he passed him on the way to the DVD player, reaching the stack of Movies Modo carefully took his time as he attempted to pop the disk out of the plastic case without accidently shattering it in irritation at Vinnie for having a mouth that moved faster than his brain at times.

Vinnie had made it a regular point to refer to Chair as doll whenever she was in the same vicinity as the grey furred biker, as a way to openly tweak Modo's tail about his interest in her.

(Although him actually referring to her as Modo's was new and probably just a slip up on the younger mouse's part)

It started after Modo had carried an unconcise Chair into Manuals store all those weeks ago he had commented out loud (much to the younger mouse's amusement and Modo's continued embarrassment thanks to Vinz teasing comments) on her looking remarkably like the porcelain doll he had seen in an old photo of Charley's grandmother's house.

But when he'd really gotten a good look at Chair for the first time that was exactly what she had reminded him of all dainty an cherubic with gold curls and rosy cheeks.

(Although that last part was probably do to the heat) Modo thought finally managing to load the disk into the player.

Modo turned grabbing the remote of the top of the TV, tossing it to Throttle on his way to sit back down again.

Still slightly embarrassed Modo eyed the open spot next to Chair on the couch and briefly considered sitting on one of the other pieces of furniture the room instead ,but quickly vetoed that idea as being to obvious an avoidance tactic on his part

(Besides if he was being honest with himself he really wanted to sit next to her)

Modo settled back onto the couch next to Chair (With any luck the movie would hold her attention and Vinnie's slip of the tongue would pass without being commented on further) he thought, risking a small glance in Chairs direction.

As if syncing Modo's gaze Chair looked up at almost the same moment catching his eye with her own, smiling her expression slightly curious Chair leaned over in his direction.

"So which James Bomb film did you pick?" She asked in a low whisper her attention shifting back and forth between him and the screen, as the movie started the dramatic gunshot accented music filling the room as the title sequence began to play.

Relaxing further into the cushions as Chair continued to look up at him guilelessly Modo smiled down at her with barley concealed relief as he replied.

"Goldenfingers I think you'll like it, it's a classic." he answered his attention shifting back to the screen right as a suavely dressed male appeared on it and began openly flirting with the beautiful female sharing the frame with him.

" Aw common Bro not this one again." Throttle said as he leaned forward to snag a couple dogs of the tray in front of him.

" Yeah …Mmmf..what…gives?" Vinnie asked around a mouthful of his own hotdog while simultaneously offering charley one from his other hand.

Charley rolled her eyes in exasperation at his lack of table educate, but accepted the offered dog anyway, reaching down and snagging the bottle of mustard off the floor next to the couch and adding a healthy sized dollop of the yellow condiment to it, passing the bottle over to the white mouse when she finished .

Vinnie grinned at her in appreciation understanding the small action meant the auburn haired female wasn't quite as vexed with him as she had previously let on.

Vinnie added a squirt of the yellow sauce to his own dog and took another bite, before shifting his focus back to the grey male again.

Modo shrugged as he glanced over at the blond haired female next to him a moment before looking at the other males and Charley again.

"it just happens to be my favorite one and I figured Chair might like it." Modo answered unapologetically as he went back to watching the film.

" Oh you two lay of him and enjoy the movie already." Charley cut in before ether of the other males could start in again, glancing pointedly between Vinnie and Throttle a moment before taking a bit out of her hotdog.

"And you really don't have any room to complain." Charley added glancing back over at Vinnie as he opened his mouth obviously about to continue protesting despite her warning.

"it's not like we haven't had to watch that recording of you winning that damn race, complete with your personal brand of commentary at least a half dozen times already." She finished narrowing her eyes sharply in in his direction, her expression causing the white mouse to quickly rethink whatever he was about to say. Vinnie wisely chose to take another bit of his hotdog instead and turned back to TV without further comment, right as one of the many fight scenes' started to unfold.

Chair engrossed in the film to the point she was almost oblivious to the others conversation, suddenly leaned forward reaching across the table to snag one of the hotdogs of the tray. Her leg inadvertently pressing up against Modo's as, her eyes stayed glued to the screen as the fast paced fight sequence wound to an end.

Modo tensed his antenna giving an almost imperceptible twitch at the contact between him and the smaller female, although the action was innocent on Chairs part Modo felt a bit like somebody had just stuck him with a live current the fur along his arms and neck raising a fraction in awareness at Chair's close proximity.

Modo shifted slightly suddenly feeling uncomfortably warm for a reason he wasn't willing to examine too closely at the moment. It wasn't like he and Chair had never touched before they had contact when she rode on his bike with him in the mornings and evenings but this was different.

For one thing on the bike Chair was never directly available to his line of sight except when she was getting on or off of it and, while there was contact it was usually just her hands braced on his sides and his tail wrapped loosely around her waist to help her keep balance on the ride, to and from the garage.

Modo openly admitted to himself that he liked seeing Chair at the garage during the days as well,

He was constantly discovering at least half a dozen new little things about her that she would do during the course of a day without even being aware, that were constantly drawing his attention.

Like the way she tried (and usually failed) not to laugh when Charley and Vinnie got into some of their more ridicules tiffs, or the way her eyes lit up when she was talking about something she liked.

Heck he even enjoyed the way she absentmindedly pulled her hair up on top of her head securing it with whatever happened to be on hand including stray pens or pencils, and once to his intense amusement a variety of multicolored paperclips that had made her look like she was wearing a circlet of rainbows around her head.

Modo shifted a bit so he could better watch Chair's expressive face out of the corner of his eye, as she sat engrossed in the movie ,her eyes widening and her mouth forming a silent oh, as Bomb pulled one of his daring escapes right at the last second possible.

Modo felt his lips quirk at Chair's reaction to the film. Here in the semi dark of the den not only was she where he could more openly sneak glances at her without, her being aware of it, sitting so close to her like this he was better able to pick up her scent as well. A blend of something vaguely sweet and tart mixed with, her own natural smell.

Modo leaned over slightly subconsciously trying to catch a better whiff of it, to try and figure out what the pleasant scent she had coupled with her own was, Jerking in surprise when a small cough drew his attention back to the other occupants of the room.

Modo flushed his cheeks warming substantially as he straightened back up.

(Must have been projecting without realizing it) he thought mildly embarrassed when he caught the knowing looks from Throttles and Vinnie as they both glanced in his direction.

Vinnie openly grinned at Modo's obvious discomfort at having been caught in his mental appraisal of the female next to him. While Throttle the more subtle of three mice merely turned his attention back to the movie his lips quirking up ever so slightly at the corners as Modo muttered something about needing to use the restroom and suddenly stood to leave the room hoping the dim lighting coupled with the darkness of his fur would help hid the blush he could feel creeping up his neck and across his cheeks as he exited the room.

Surprised at the abrupt action chair watched the large male leave the room with no small amount of concern. "Is he ok?" Chair asked her expression troubled as she turned to face the rest of the group.

Charley equally surprised at the speedy departure stared after Modo's rapidly retreating form curiously a moment before shooting an appraising glance between the other two males in the room.

"I'm sure he's fine." Charley replied soothingly even as her gaze narrowed suspiciously at Throttle and Vinnie who both carefully avoided eye contact with her.

"Was it something I did?" Chair asked her voice taking on an anxious note as she glanced back towards the door again.

"Not exactly" Vinnie commented with a chuckle, realizing his mistake as Chair shifted her focus fully back over to him.

"What do you mean?" Chair asked confused as she looked at him.

" If I did something wrong I promise it wasn't on purpose, but I can't fix it if I don't know what I did." Chair added her expression concerned as she stared into Vinnie's slowly panicking one.

Vinnie found it increasingly difficult to look her in the eye the longer she stared at him finally breaking eye contact as he shot a slightly desperate (help me out here Bro!) look over his shoulder in the Throttle's direction.

"What Vinnie was trying to say…" Throttle started trailing off in relief as Modo's silhouette reappeared in the doorway, drawing Chairs attention and Saving him from having to try and sort out Vinnie's verbal blunder

Modo started across the room to regain his seat only to hesitate as he became aware of the curious stares from the others in the room.

"Uh…Sorry about that one to many root beer's before the movie I guess." he said sheepishly as they continued to stare in his direction.

"Oh..Ok." Chair said in relief as she watched the large Male shift awkwardly from one foot to the other a moment before continuing on his way to the couch.

Chair felt the dip from the cushions as Modo's weight caused them sink in notably as he settled down next to her again. Watching him quizzically a few more moments out of the corner of her eye, Chair's attention slowly shifted back to the action on screen as it pulled her back into the rapidly escalating story.

Modo felt the tension he hadn't realized he was still holding on to slowly ebb, as he became caught up in one of his favorite action sequences as Bomb single handedly managed to take down an entire room of armed thugs with nothing but a Swiss army knife and a commandeered hand gun.

Chair becoming more comfortable as the night wore on subconsciously tucked her feet and legs up on the couch absently leaning back further against the cushions as the film neared the halfway mark.

Feeling the small shift in the cushions Modo glanced over in Chairs direction noting the heavy look to her eyes as she continued to watch the film curled up next to him. Modo felt another mildly electric twinge go through him as he watched her relaxed features a moment longer,

Before quickly glancing around to make sure he hadn't inadvertently dropped his mental guards again an drawn the teasing attention of the other males in the room once more.

Modo looked to his left Only to find Vinnie passed out cold , his head tipped back on the couch drooling slightly as Charley dozed next to him her bare feet pressed snuggly against his side as one of the white mouse's arms draped lightly across her legs.

A quick glance in the ragtag groups leader's direction revealed Throttle stretched out asleep as well his soft snores just audible in-between the lulls in dialog emitting from the TV.

Modo started to turn back to make a comment to Chair about them being the only ones to make it through the lengthy film when he felt a slight weight settle against his side.

His eye widening in surprise Modo glanced over to see the thick mass of Chair's gold curls spilling loosely across his mechanical arm as she leaned against him in sleep, her eyes closed and her mouth slightly slack as she tipped against him further.

Modo stared at Chair a moment the sight of her pressed up against him causing his heart rate to speed up slightly. Concerned that resting against his mechanical arm might be uncomfortable for her, if he left her like that Modo attempted to carefully extract it from underneath Chairs cheek, Only to have her shift over into his side when he did manage to pull it out.

Modo froze awkwardly holding his arm up in the air as an unconcise Chair snuggled further into his side his antenna shooting up almost straight in the air as a soft sigh left her lips heating the fur on his chest as it passed through it.

Modo swallowed thickly his tail twitching as he started counting backwards from ten his attention shifting around the room as he desperately tried to think of a way to extract himself from the awkward situation, before finally giving it up as a lost cause when he felt the much smaller female press against him more firmly.

Modo looked down at were Chair lay curled against him, his arm slowly lowering as he gave up on extracting himself and simply tried to find a safe place to rest his arm settling it along the back of the couch for a few minutes before finally lowering it hesitantly to rest lightly against the sleeping female's shoulder.

Modo shifted ever so slightly trying not to jostle Chair as he attempted to make himself comfortable on the section of couch he was currently boxed in on, between her and Vinnie.

His attention shifting briefly back to the TV screen as the main character in typical bomb fashion suddenly commented to the heroin

"Well it would seem I've gone and managed to land myself in another exasperating predicament with you my dear"

"You can say that again" Modo muttered glancing back down at the serene expression on Chair's sleeping face as he did.


	7. (Cause every time we touch I get this…Um… feeling)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again my dears ( W.W.T) here once more and I'm really happy with how this chapter came out. I'm afraid I did have a little fun at poor Chair and Modo's expense, but I feel like things are finally at a point where things are going to start picking up between them relationship wise. Also did some more Character background for Chair and had some fun with my own take on a bit of Martian culture. Also I don't actually speak Finnish (the bit in here is almost all google translates work) I do however like Apocalyptica and I think the Finnish language itself is actually pretty neat. On a side note if you like Bmfm romance fics with well written Oc's I would highly recommend Quikening's – Of (Biker) Mice and (wo)men they've recently added another Chapter and its awesome. That being said/written please enjoy the next chapter of Mars needs mates.
> 
> Disclaimer: ba Ba BA BUM! Drum roll if you please, and now the legalities Bmfm not mine my Oc and the story idea itself however is, I make no money from this it is for fun and entertainment purposes only.

Chair woke up slowly rubbing her face against the softness of her pillow a moment her nose picking up a pleasantly musky scent as she breathed in that Chair couldn't quite place.

The niggling feeling of something not being quite right gradually began to pervade her subconscious, but Chair was so comfortable and warm she really couldn't be bothered to try and figure it out right that second.

A soft rumbling snore suddenly shaking the pillow beneath her cheek had Chairs eyes shooting open in startled surprise ,as she looked down and realized she wasn't laying on the pillow or comforter in her apartment but was instead draped rather haphazardly across the well sculpted and soft fur covered chest of a sleeping Modo .

(What in the world?) Chair thought groggily as she glanced around only to find the other occupants of the room in similar sleeping arrangements themselves. Vinnie was half slouched over a sleeping Charley his face level with the small of her back his arm draped across her waist and his tail wrapped loosely around them both. While Throttle listed heavily to the side the top of his head brushing against charley's her hair threaded slightly around his antenna.

(Must have dozed off during the movie) Chair thought foggily, as she tried to rise from where she was currently sprawled across Modo like he was her own personal Martian mattress. Only to became aware of a heavy weight draped across her lower back hampering her escape.

After a bit Chairs sleep fogged brain managed to work out that it was Modo's mechanical arm pinning her against him. Unfortunately Chair's bladder chose that moment to make her prominently aware of its existence, it's near painful demands adding a bit of desperation to her continued efforts to extract herself.

Sliding sideways Chair managed to move herself part way out from under Modo's metal arm although know she was more or less almost straddling him cowgirl style in her attempt to free herself, but the new position afforded Chair enough leverage that she was finally able to actually shift the heavy mechanical extremity enough to maneuver out from under it the rest of the way.

Chair sat up with the intention of quickly climbing over the grey furred male and heading to the bathroom. Only to freeze as she scooted back and instantly became aware that her body wasn't the only one making early morning demands, as a rather large and firm ridge suddenly pressed up against her.

Chair flushed scarlet just as Modo Opened his eye to stare groggily into her own. unsure of what to do at being caught in the horrifically compromising position Chair stared into his face in growing Mortification, as awareness slowly replaced the befuddlement of sleep in his gaze and Modo became aware of just where she was sitting and what exactly was pressed against her, his eye widening and his mouth dropping open without sound as he gaped at her.

"Uh…Good morning." Chair started awkwardly as he stared at her in complete shock.

"Um yeah …I wasn't …. This definitely isn't what it… That is… I…um…I really… really half to pee." Chair said slowly, as she broke eye contact with the frozen male, shifting to the side and sliding off his lap as Modo continued to stare at her without blinking.

(Honestly at this moment Chair wasn't even sure if he was breathing.) But she wasn't sticking around to check, as soon as her feet hit the floor Chair immediately turned to exit the room, her cheeks flaming crimson as she fled in search of the bathroom.

Modo sat in stunned silence starring into the space that Chair had previously been occupying without actually seeing anything, as his brain continued to try and process what had just taken place moments before.

A snort from Vinnie broke the silence a few minutes later as Charley shifted in her sleep one of her feet connecting soundly with his upper thigh causing the white mouse to instinctively tighten his arm and tail around her as he sat partway up to try and get his barring's.

This startled the sleeping mechanic who jerked in surprise, her hair snagging against the Martian leaders antenna as she did, Throttle yelped as the mildly painful sensation pulled him out of a sound sleep sitting up and rubbing absently at the sensitive appendages on top of his head a moment ,

Before glancing over just in time to watch as Charley in her half-asleep state tried to disentangle herself from Vinnie's grip only to roll over and fall off the side of the couch with a surprised yelp.

" Whoa…You ok Sweetheart?" Vinnie asked groggily, glancing down over the side of the couch and flinching internally at the look she gave him from her prone position on the floor; as he reached down to help her up.

Charley still not awake enough at that second to try talking merely gave him another dry look in response, before taking the offered hand and pulling herself back into a sitting position with a small groan.

"I'm Fine." She muttered standing up the rest of the way and giving a small yawn as she put her arms, above her head and stretched, her back releasing a small series of audible pops as she did.

"I'm going to go get some Coffee going and start on breakfast. Hope hotdogs and scrambled eggs sounds good to you guys because I'm afraid I don't have a whole lot else on hand at the moment." Charley said looking around at the small group.

"Hey where's Chair?" Charley asked looking around the den when she didn't spot her among the other occupants.

"Did you see where she got off to?" Charley asked glancing over at Modo curiously.

Modo simply made an odd sound in the back of his throat, while continuing to stare off into space his expression unreadable.

"Uh? You ok there big guy?" Vinnie asked reaching over and passing his hand back and fourth in front of the other males face, glancing back at the other two in the room and shrugging in confusion when this seemed to have no effect on the dazed male.

Modo sat quietly another minute before finally seeming to come back to himself blinking as he looked around the room and quickly stood, his cheeks pinkening as he muttered something about needing some air, before briskly walking out of the room, much to the bafflement of the remaining occupants.

"What do you think that was all about?" Charley asked her tone bewildered as she turned to face the other males.

" I'm not sure." Throttle answered starring after the retreating male thoughtfully.

"But I have a feeling our missing guest has something to do with it." he added glancing back at the other two in the room.

[Chair]

Chair leaned over the small vanity sink and splashed some cool water against her face, before chancing another look in the mirror her cheeks flaming bright red again, as her brain replayed the events of this morning in high definition, for what felt like the hundredth time since she had fled the den moments before.

"Ok Chair get a grip girl, you can't stay in here all day. Guys get morning wood all the time... it's not poor Modo's fault that you just happened end up accidently sitting on his." Chair muttered out loud to her reflection.

Taking another steadying breath as she turned to exit the bathroom Chair's hand hesitated on the doorknob an extra minute before she mentally braced herself and stepped out to find the others.

Chair followed the sound of voices and the scent of cooking eggs into the small kitchen to find Vinnie and Throttle chatting amiably across the kitchen table to one another. While Charley alternated between turning hotdogs on a small griddle and cooking up scrambled eggs on the stove.

Chair felt an odd mix of disappointment and relief when she didn't immediately spot Modo among the others in the kitchen, immediately missing the large mouse's comforting prescience but equally not ready to face him yet after the embarrassing events of earlier ether.

The smell of fresh brewed coffee wafted through the air and teased Chairs noise as she stood hesitating in the doorway, the aroma finally drawing her further into the close confines of the garage's small but homey kitchen.

Throttle and Vinnie who we're whispering back and forth to each other suddenly broke off from what appeared to be a very animated discussion to offer friendly good morning's to Chair as she moved into the room.

Charley alerted to the other females appearance, by the males enthusiastic greetings turned from the stove and caught Chair's eye.

"There you are! We were wondering where you went." Charley said with a smile.

"Oh um…yeah sorry about that I really needed to use the bathroom" Chair said in a quite tone of voice fighting against the urge to blush as her brain tried to go on replay again.

Noticing Chairs gaze straying briefly to the coffee pot with a hint of longing Charley chuckled before nodding to one of the cabinets above it.

"Cups are on the upper right hand side of the left cabinet help yourself, the guys don't appreciate the taste, so it'll be nice to not be the only one drinking it for a change." she added with a smile.

Chair smiled back gratefully and made her way over to the cabinet next to the coffee pot, belatedly realizing the cups where going to be just out of her reach ,even if she stood on her tip toes.

Chair briefly contemplated asking one of the others for help before deciding to just try and manage for herself, giving a small jump (that only served to draw the amused gaze of the two mice at the table.) Chair just managed to brush her fingers against edge of the ceramic mug she was trying to grab.

Making a small frustrated sound in the back of her throat at the failed attempt, Chair looked up at the elusive mug in annoyance.

"Need a hand there doll?" Vinnie asked with unveiled amusement, as Chair studied the open counter beneath the cabinet a moment before turning her back to it.

"No thanks" Chair said absently as she braced her hands against the counter top and hoped up backwards to site on the edge twisting slightly to reach behind her and snagging the handle of the cup she'd been trying to reach.

Chair waggled it victoriously in the white furred Martians direction as she hopped down, a triumphant grin tugging at the corners of her mouth.

Vinnie snorted in amusement at the small bit of showboating, while Throttle gave an approving grin at the quick problem solving.

"Resourceful, I take it you've had to do that before." Throttle added with a Chuckle as Chair made her way over to the coffee pot.

"Short girl problems, in the land of the tall it's adapt or cry." Chair replied with a shrug a smile curling the edges of her mouth as she measured out a healthy sized dose of the caffeinated liquid.

Chair carefully made her way over to join the two males at the table attempting not to spill any of the heated beverage as she did.

Sitting down at the table next to Throttle Chair wrapped her hands around the pleasantly warm exterior of the mug and turned her attention to the two males as she waited for the contents to cool enough for her to risk a sip.

"So what's up this morning?" Chair asked, almost immediately regretting her poor choice of words, as an image of Modo's stunned expression while she straddled him flashed through her mind.

Chair immediately shifted her focus onto the steaming mug in her hands and tried to clear her head again.

(You know you think he's cute when he's flustered …and among other things this morning he was definitely… flustered) the little voice in the back of Chair's head whispered perversely as she stared into the inky contents of the ceramic cup, causing her to tighten her hands around it in irritation at the stray thought.

(Great on top of already constantly invading the poor guy's space, now I'm a closet pervert when it comes to him as well) chair thought belatedly as she absentmindedly took a sip of the still too hot liquid right as the subject of her thoughts entered the room.

Chair unprepared for the sight of Modo when she had just been thinking about him, the way she had ,startled and swallowed a much bigger gulp of the still scalding liquid then she had originally intended, her gaze briefly locking with his own surprised one across the room.

The Coffee burned a scalding trail down Chairs throat causing her eyes to water as she gave a pained croak at the blunder her face turning a dark shade of red in distress.

Chair attempted to breathe through the discomfort coughing fitfully as she did and after a few minutes she finally managed to regain a modicum of control as the worst of the irritation passed.

Chair slowly became aware of a firm hand patting against her back, blinking to clear her blurred vision Chair glanced up expecting to see ether Throttle or Vinnie next to her only to find herself staring directly into Modo's concerned face as he crouched over her.

"You ok?" He asked his hand resting lightly between her shoulder blades ready to start up patting again if she needed it.

(Damn he's fast ) Chair thought distantly as she looked up at him in surprise her heart giving an odd stutter at his close proximity.

"Fine" Chair wheezed managing a small nod as she stared at him hoping that anyone noticing the blush still staining her cheeks at that moment would blame it on left over heat from the coffee and nothing else.

" You sure?" Modo asked a frown twisting the edges of his mouth as Chair slowly sat back up from where she had hunched over the table during the worst of the coughing fit,

Chair a bit self conscious under the close scrutiny nodded again ,swallowing with some apparent difficulty before replying.

"Went down the wrong tube and was still a bit too hot is all." she whispered hoarsely glancing around with a touch of embarrassment as she noticed the others staring at her in mild concern as well.

Modo's hand hesitated briefly above her shoulders as he took a step back , slowly dropping back down to his side as he continued to watch her a moment longer .

Before His gaze shifting to the cup of coffee still clasped in her hands, his eye narrowing slightly in thought ,before he turned and made his way over to the sink grabbing a drinking glass as he did and filling it with cool water from the tap, then making his way back to Chair, and sitting down beside her

Modo placed the glass on the table and slid it across to her, Chair her throat still feeling as if she'd tried to down a shot of boiling lead accepted it gratefully, pretending not to notice when Modo's tail subtly shifted the cup of coffee out of her direct reach.

Chair slowly sipped the water enjoying the almost immediate relief she experienced as she did, while trying to sneak glances of the gray furred male next to her, out of the corner, of her eye.

In all honesty Chair was still rather embarrassed over the events of that morning but she supposed if Modo (who seemed relatively unruffled at the moment) could find the will to ignore them then she could.

Besides she liked Modo he was a Sweetheart, and she really didn't want things to get awkward between them all of a sudden, all because of a little mishap.

(I don't think little is the right word for that) the voice in the back of Chairs head piped in.

(Damn it shut up inner pervert) Chair thought vehemently back at it.

(Oh great I've finally gone off my rocker and I'm arguing with myself) Chair thought immediately afterwards.

Chair slowly became aware that Modo and the others were back to staring at her in concern again, as she left off on her inner monologue and turned her attention back to the world around her once more .

"Uhm…Sorry guess I spaced out for a second or two there." Chair said with a touch of embarrassment her voice cracking a bit at the end and causing her to cough slightly.

Chair waved Modo off as he leaned towards her concerned again, and simply took another drink from the glass of water he'd brought her, the cool liquid helping to sooth the irritation in her throat once more.

Setting the almost empty glass back on the table as she finished Chair cleared her throat a bit before focusing back on the others again.

"I swear I do not understand your cultures obsession with drinking bitter flavored boiling liquids." Vinnie said as he watched Chair drain the last of the water in her glass.

"I take it that means there's no Coffee or Tea on mars then?" Chair replied quizzically her voice having only the barest rasp to it this time.

"Not exactly." Throttle answered picking up Chairs discarded cup of coffee and giving the contents a small sniff as he did.

"Martian mice have a pretty strong sense of smell, and that ties in fairly closely with how things taste for us as well. I'm assuming for you this probably has a pleasant scent maybe even sweet, but I can pick up a slightly bitter tinge to it that makes it seem rather…unappealing." Throttle finished setting the cup back down gently on the table as he did.

"Huh and here I thought, I learned all about your super noses the first month we met. When on top of you guys complaining if I put on anything stronger than deodorant, almost every scented candle and strong scented soap I had went missing. But I didn't realize they were so sensitive even Coffee smelled bitter to you." Charley said in surprise over her shoulder as she scooped eggs and Hotdogs onto a large plate before setting it in the middle of the table absently smacking Vinnie's fingers away from it, as she continued to look at Throttle curiously.

Vinnie rubbed at his fingers irritably a moment, his expression slowly turning sly as he watched Charley out of the corner of his eye , his tail sneaking over the side of the table and trying to snag one of the hotdogs only to have Modo's mechanical arm suddenly come down to rest on it, before it reached the plate.

" Yeoch!" he yelped shooting a glare sideways in the grey mouse's direction ,who merely smiled back in return as Charley turned back around to Glare at a suddenly sheepish Vinnie in irritation.

"You guy's sense of smell is really that strong? "Chair asked looking over at Throttle as Charley in lieu of scolding Vinnie over his impatience instead tugged him(protesting as he went) out of his seat by, his ear and forced him to help her gather up plates and cutlery for everyone at the table.

"Yeah it is." Throttle replied with a shrug as he glanced over at her.

"Wow guess it's a good thing I don't wear any perfume or scented lotions then." Chair said as she started to lean across the table to grab the cup of coffee with the intention of pouring it in the sink, Only to blink in surprise when Throttle pulled it further out of her reach.

" Hey!" Chair said Shooting him an irritated look as she made another grab for the cup only to have the action repeated again this time by Modo who reached across the table to snag, then place it on his opposite side from Chair.

"What gives? …Why the sudden game of keep away? " Chair asked as she looked back and forth between the two mice in exasperation before trying and failing to reach around the large mouse to grab the cup again,

Chair realizing she wasn't going to be able to reach it, with Modo playing goalie settled for glaring up at him sourly as he continued to sit as if nothing at all had occurred his lips curling up at the edges in amusement as he looked back at her.

Charley noticing Chair's plight gave a wry snort before chiming in,

"Irritating Macho Martian Mouse trait five thousand and ninety two, they can be a bit over protective, in fact it can be downright annoying at times especially if they get it in their heads its somehow for your own good." Charley said her lips twitching into a sympathetic smile as she looked in Chair's direction.

" I'm not going to try and drink it again "Chair said in exasperation.

"I was just going to pour it out and wash the cup. One round of trying to flash boil my tonsils was enough for me this morning, Thank you very much!" Chair added throwing her hands up in the air and turning her gaze to the ceiling.

"Sorry" Modo said with a small laugh his expression anything but apologetic as he stood picking up the coffee cup ,reaching over to grab Chair's empty water glass as well placing both in the sink before sitting back down next to her again.

Chair narrowed her eyes at him and Throttle both, as the Martian leader grinned over at her unrepentantly as well.

"You boys are lucky you're fuzzy butts are kind of cute." Chair muttered darkly as Charley with the help of a reluctant Vinnie placed dishes and silverware on the table for everyone before sitting down to join them.

Modo gave a small shrug and continued grinning at Chair obviously amused by her continued annoyance with him. Chair decided the only mature way to respond to this behavior was by scrunching up her noise and sticking her tongue out in his direction.

This of course only served to make Modo grin harder and Throttle to laugh at her outright. Charley rolled her eyes at their antics as she began dishing out plates of food to everyone around the table.

"Alright you two chuckle heads quit teasing her, before I start spilling secrets on ways to get you to knock it off." She said pointedly placing a plate in front of each of them as she finished.

" Aw come on Charley-girl you know we mean well." Throttle said with a smile before taking a bite of eggs.

" I'd apologize again, but I honestly prefer when you don't suddenly look like you're trying to turn into a plum" Modo added sliding the plate Charley had given him over to Chair and exchanging it for her empty one.

Vinnie raised an eye ridge at this, sharing a brief look with Throttle before taking his plate from Charley himself.

Neather Modo or Chair seemed to notice the exchange as they started in on the meal shooting annoyed and amused glances, back and forth between themselves for a few more minutes, Chair's aggravation with the large mouse slowly beginning to wear off as the meal progressed.

"So?" Chair said thoughtfully as she studded her half-finished plate, breaking the comfortable silence that had briefly encased the group as they ate.

"You guys have mentioned a few things about mars now and Martian culture since I first meet you and I have to admit, I'm pretty curious about it" Chair said glancing around at the Mice and Charley as they looked up from their own plates of food.

"What exactly do you want to know about it?" Modo asked swallowing a bite of food as he looked over at her.

"Well?…"Chair hedged a long list of things running through her mind before she settled on one of what she considered the simpler ones.

"Let's start with names. Charley mentioned that it was Fairley common for you guys to be named after bikes and engine parts, and I was just curious how something like that came about." Chair asked glancing up into Modo's face as she did.

Modo paused as he tried to think of how to answer.

"well" … he started looking over at Throttle when he couldn't quite find a way to put it into words himself.

Taking the que Throttle started to explain drawing Chair's attention as he did.

"Having any means of transportation is pretty important on mars ,the planet even before the plutarkian invasion could be harsh and outright deadly in certain areas and traveling long distances on foot, inadvisable for any but the utterly desperate or foolish. "

"That being said Martian bikes are considered more than just advanced pieces of Machinery, before the war the majority of them contained some of the most sophisticated Ai systems Mars had to offer."

"Capable of learning and adapting from their personal experiences over time and developing their own personality's likes and even dislikes." Throttle explained.

"So you're saying your bikes are actually alive." Chair said thoughtfully as her mind briefly flashed back to Modo's own bike and some of the things she had seen over the past few weeks.

"So how does that tie in with the names?" Chair asked looking back at the group.

"Martian mice have a tendency to pick names based partially on things that hold importance for them, or have significant meaning" Modo answered looking over at her again as he did.

"Ok that makes since" Chair said

"But then… how exactly did Vinnie end up with his name?" Chair asked looking over at the white mouse as she did.

Vinnie shrugged his expression mildly uncomfortable as Charley who had been listening intensely to the conversation shifted her attention fully to him as well her own expression suddenly curious as she looked over at him.

" My dad was really found of old earth films" he muttered as he rubbed at the back of his head his cheeks a bit pink as he did.

"What like the Godfather?" Chair asked quizzically watching a grin slowly spread across Charley's face as Vinnie continued to squirm slightly under the female's scrutiny.

"You know Vinnie this is pretty good blackmail material, almost as good as that copy of your baby picture." Charley said grinning toothily at the white mouse.

'Come on Charley it's not…wait…my baby picture?!" Vinnie exclaimed immediately turning to the face the auburn haired mechanic next to him, who merely smiled mischievously back in his direction before turning back to eating her food.

" Hey Uh…sweetheart, I mean Charley I thought you agreed to give that back." Vinnie said his tone anxious.

"I did give it back" Charley said calmly taking another bite of her food.

"Oh well that's a relief." Vinnie said settling back in his seat.

"I just made a copy for myself before I did is all." Charley added glancing over at Vinnie as she did her eyes laughing at the expression that appeared on his face over her comment.

"So you guys watched earth films on mars?... Is that how you learned English?" Chair quickly asked before Vinnie could start in on Charley again.

" Bits and Pieces" Throttle said.

" It's a bit more complicated than that though,

There's actually a pretty wide range of diversity in languages and cultures on mars.. or at least there used to be..."

"But with the slow corruption and following destruction of Mars's own media sources, coupled with the availability and popularity of certain earth films and music over the last 30 years or so, it made English Fairley easy to adopt as a sort of universal filler for trade and basic communication in between different tribes, and groups on mars."

"Over time a lot of groups, a large portion of the mice population included, started speaking it almost exclusively actually." Throttle answered looking down at the table in thought and stirring through the food on his plate without really seeming to see it.

" So if you learned from different earth based entertainment broad casts, is English the only earth language you know?" Chair asked her fork pausing midway to her mouth as she looked over at the tan mouse and noticed the contemplative look on his face.

"No" Throttle said coming back to himself and glancing over at Chair in surprise at the question.

"We each know some Spanish along with French and Russian, and Vinnie actually has a thing for Finnish and German from some of the rock groups he was into when we we're kids" Throttle replied as he studied Chair thoughtfully a moment.

" Finnish?" Charley cut in quizzically as she raised one eyebrow while looking up at Vinnie.

"Älä katso tuolla tavalla, Apocalyptica on mahtava!" Vinnie responded in Finnish crossing his arms as he stared back at her ,Causing Charley to gap back at him in shock.

" Alright" Charley said blinking slowly back at him.

"I don't have a clue what you just said but count me in as sufficiently impressed hotshot." Charley added with an amused laugh, as Vinnie grinned back at her pleased with himself for being the one to surprise the sassy mechanic for a change.

"Now seeing as we're playing twenty questions and all that, and since you brought up names earlier, I've got one for you doll. How exactly you ended up getting yours to be precise?" Vinnie suddenly said turning his attention back to Chair.

Chair flinched internally but guessed she should have seen that particular question coming. Being named for parts of Vehicles and such might be common place on mars, but a piece of furniture you sit on was probably considered more than a little odd even in other parts of the universe.

"I have to admit, I've been curious about that myself." Charley added as Modo and Throttle looked over at Chair as well.

"At first I thought it might be a nickname of sorts or short for something like Charity, but you've already said it's not. She said her expression thoughtful.

"Well… actually.. to be honest you're not far off the mark with Charity." Chair said hesitantly while trying to think of a way to explain finally settling on the simplest and to the point version.

"There was a bit of a mix up at the hospital and my name ended up being written down wrong ,nobody caught it until it was, too late to really do anything about it…That is without having to leap through some extensive hoops. So …my parents just sort of left it that way, and started calling me Chair instead of Charity." She said speaking in a rush and Trying not to look directly into any of the disbelieving stares she received in response to her vague rapid fire reply.

"Wait… seriously?! How exactly does something like that go unnoticed for that long?!" Vinnie asked incredulous.

"That does seem a little odd." Charley added study Chairs face a moment.

Chair shifted uncomfortably in her seat a moment before deciding to just go ahead and explain the whole story.

"You know I lived with my great grandfather …"Chair started trailing off as she took a moment to gather her thoughts.

" … My mother's parents died in an accident when she was in her late teens. My Great Granparents Gee-gee and Naua-naua tried to be there for her…but It seemed to hurt her too much to try and talk about any of it with them, so instead she ended up just brushing them off, and started going out more and more often with groups of friends …from what I understand it started off innocent enough a few party's staying out late every now and then, but then she meet my Father and things …just sort of went downhill from that point on."

" What had just been the occasional glass of beer turned into harder…stuff and when my Great Grandfather and Grandmother tried to get my mother to stop, and quit seeing my father she ended up running off with him instead."

" A year and a half later my Grandfather received a call asking him to come to the hospital. My Mother and Father were apparently both high and drunk coming back from a party, and had been in a car accident as a result. My Mother was also almost nine months pregnant at the time and ended up going into labor with me."

"She was so out of it from whatever she had been taking that night, That when she tried to tell the nurse she wanted my name to be written down as Charity in Italian which is Carita, it kept coming out as Chair Italy, and eventually… that's what the nurse wrote down."

"Is that how you ended up living with your Grandfather?" Modo asked gently, as he watched Chairs troubled expression as she stared down at the table not looking at anyone.

" No not exactly custady situations …at least on earth can be complicated and drawn out at times. I was temporarily taken away and given to my Grandparents for a while … eventually my parents regained custody of me again though, but they couldn't really seem to stay clean for very long periods of time."

" So I did end up at my Grandparents for one reason or another several times over the next couple years But I didn't end up living with Gee-gee fulltime until I was closer to seven… about a year after my grandmother had passed away.

"I'm sorry it took so long for him to gain custady of you." Charley said watching Chair sympathetically across the table.

"He didn't actually gain custady of me then, at least not until much later when my Mother voluntarily signed me over" Chair said.

" So…She voluntarily gave you up then?…but what about your father wouldn't he have had a say too?" Charley asked confused. Chair fiddled absently with her fork a moment her expression distant before finally answering.

"By that point my dad was long gone…family life wasn't really for him I guess, and What with the added stress of suddenly being a single parent coupled with the continuous problem of trying to figure out what to do about upcoming things like bills and food… my Mother began struggling to cope and sank deeper into the use of narcotics to the point where she was using almost all her money for them, towards the end she was unable to afford a regular babysitter so she started taking me along when she went to bargain with her usual dealer."

"Then one day she just couldn't afford to pay for the amount she needed in order to achieve her fix and her dealer offered to make a trade…he had a thing for kids." Chair said morosely her expression unreadable.

Chair could almost feel the tension in the group around her as she sat staring down at the table top while picking ideally at the food on her plate, startling slightly as the fork in Modo's hand suddenly snapped in two as he gripped it.

"She didn't" Charley whispered horrified as she stared at Chair.

" No…She didn't" Chair said as she stared down at the broken pieces of fork on the table her gaze shifting up to Modo's questioningly a moment before turning towards Charley again.

" But… she didn't out right say no when he suggested it ether. As young as I was I didn't understand what he wanted with me, but… I could tell she was tempted to agree to whatever it was and it scared me…I think it must have scared her too, because that night she packed everything I owned and the next day she took me to my grandfathers and left me."

"I haven't actually seen or spoken with her since although, I know my Grandfather got in touch with her from time to time before he passed." Chair said softly, taking a bite of cold eggs as a morbid silence seemed to stretch between everyone when she finished speaking.

"I'm so sorry." Modo said softly breaking the sudden quite that had held everyone in its grip.

"Don't be" Chair said grateful to have the nearly suffocating silence come to an end, as she glanced up into his sympathetic expression.

It was probably the best thing she ever did for me, Life at the studio with my Grandfather was wonderful, I loved it …I have a lot of happy memories tied up in that old place, so I really can't regret ending up there too much." Chair said her tone picking back up a bit as Modo slowly smiled at her.

" Besides" Chair went on.

"Considering there's been a slowly escalating war, on your home planet for over nearly three generations now, I'm sure I'm not the only one in this room whose childhood had a few rough patches in it." Chair said standing to take her plate to the sink, reaching over to collect the pieces of Modo's fork as she did pausing and looking back up at him in surprise as her hand was suddenly engulfed by his much larger flesh one.

Modo looked as if he wanted to say something but didn't really know where to begin as he looked back at her the silence stretching between them as he continued to stare, briefly opening his mouth then closing it again wordlessly.

Chair her expression going from confused to contemplative, finally turned her hand over in his, giving it a light squeeze before slowly pulling away. Chair gathered up both their empty plates and carried them to the sink tossing the broken pieces of fork into the trash as she passed it.

Chair started to fill the sink with water with the intention of helping to wash up the breakfast dishes as the others at the table slowly followed suit by gathering up their own dishes. Chair washed and dried her own plate before starting on the others her expression thoughtful, aware of Modo's gaze on her the entire time as she did.

As if receiving the same unanimous que the others quietly divided up tasks to clear the remains of the meal, and store the left overs, as Modo slowly pushed away from the table and made his way over to stand beside chair silently starting to put away the dishes as she finished drying them.

Halting as he set the now empty coffee cup back on the shelf his expression turning thoughtful.

"Did everyone really just start calling you Chair?" Modo suddenly asked glancing down at the top of Chairs head.

Chair caught unaware by the abrupt question looked up from where she had been scrubbing at a stubborn bit of egg on one of the plates in surprise.

"Well No… Naua-naua, my Grandmother actually refused and always called me Carita instead." Chair answered her lips curling up fondly at the memory.

"And you're Grandfather?" Modo asked curiously.

Chair smiled warmly a moment as she answered.

"Gee-gee actually asked me what I preferred to be called when I moved in with him fulltime, and I told him to call me Chair. By that point it was what I was used to, and to me it was just my name, as much as bob or carol where anyone else's I guess…"

"Besides my Great Grandmother calling me Carita was sort of her and my special thing… and it honestly just hurt too much, to picture anyone else calling me it."

" So to this day for all intents and purposes, I'm Chair and I'm honestly ok with that, It's just part of what makes me…me." She finished handing Modo the last dish as she did and turning to start in on washing the silverware.

"I see… it sounds like your Grandparents were remarkably loving and understanding people." Modo said setting the last plate on the shelf, before starting to dry and put away the silverware Chair had already placed in the drainer.

"They were" Chair replied softly her gaze distant as she stared down into the contents of the sink in thought.

The two continued to work companionably side by side for a few more minutes, although Chair had another moment of surprise as she suddenly felt Modo's tail brush against the back of her legs before briefly wrapping around her ankle.

Chair glanced over at Modo in surprise, but he honestly didn't seem to be aware of the action as he continued to absently dry and place the last of the utensils in their designated drawer.

Curious but not really willing to draw attention to the brief touch, Chair went back to the task of rinsing the sink and wiping down the surrounding counter,

as she contemplated the conundrum that was the grey furred Martian next to her and his rapidly escalating place in her life.


	8. (Float like a butterfly sting like …an easy Chair?)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (W.W.T) finally done with next Chapter had a little trouble with the last bit of this one but I think I finally worked it out. I'm afraid Chairs landlords more than a bit cliché but the story needed a little something though in order for me to tie some stuff together for future chapters, and I'm not ready to bring limburger or his goons in just yet so… meh. Don't worry I'm not trying to turn Chair into a fighter she's spunky but she's really really not one lol, I do need her to be able to throw a punch later on though. I actually learned some of the things Modo shows her in a self-defense class I took right after I graduated from high school. Overall I am happy with how this chapter turned out and generally like it, So.. Here you go hope you enjoy it as well.
> 
> Disclaimer: don't own 'em except for my Oc and the story Idea itself.
> 
> Also if you like well-developed Oc's SamuraiPrincess01 has one named Danielle Aguirrez " Danny " I think you might find interesting in Their Bmfm fic (My Guardian Angel) if you have time you should check it out.

[Two days later]

Chair slowly woke to the sound of Rapid banging followed by the muffled voice of her landlord calling through the peeling paint coated wood of her apartment door.

More asleep than awake, She glanced over in confusion at the clock next to her bed noting the time as 6:42 am. While Chair knew that rent was due today she couldn't understand the reasoning for coming to collect at such an odd hour so early in the morning.

But none the less pulled herself from the warm cocoon of her comforter, and called out a brief response, quickly looking through the haphazard pile of her clothing in search of a pair of pants to put on.

(I really need to invest in a dresser) Chair thought groggily as she opened the door to her apartment only to realize almost immediately that she had made a mistake as the scent of stale sweat and alcohol hit her full in the face,

Causing her (thankfully empty) stomach to flip in protest as the nauseating combination mixed with the moldy air of the corridor and washed over her in an almost hair raising miasma.

Giving up on any pretense at subtlety, Chair moved her hand up to cover her nose to partially block the offensive odor as she looked up into the blood shot gaze of her landlord.

"Mr. Wheeler?"

"Is there something I can help you with?" She asked fighting the urge to gage, while starring warily at the slightly balding heavy set male filling the doorway.

"Rents due." he muttered with a slur, while looking back at her scratching absently at his crotch a moment, before clearing his throat noisily and turning his head to the side to spit down the apartment corridor.

(Thank Gad I don't ever run around outside barefoot here) Chair thought with disgust as she watched the yellow tinted blob disappear around the doorframe.

" I'll…I'll just get that for you then." Chair said her voice mildly horrified as she partially shut the door and went to collect the money from its current place in her Change purse.

Chair bent down and picked up the little flower printed bag quickly counting out the cash, and turning to head back to the door, with the intention of quickly paying and getting rid of her landlords unpleasant company.

Only to give a startled shriek as she ran face first into the stained and yellowed wife beater covered chest of the man in question.

Her skin crawling at the feel of the damp coarse fabric and flabby muscles beneath it, Chair yanked herself back in surprise as her eyes shot up to meet the glazed and unfocused ones of the out of shape but still substantially larger and intimidating man suddenly filling the small space of her apartment, Chair experienced a moment of panic as she realized intentionally or not he was now effectively blocking her in by cutting off access to the only exit in the room.

Chair cried out again, as he suddenly stuck his hand out towards her barley missing clipping her in the chin as she took another hasty step back.

Chair immediately thrust the cash at him scrambling backwards until she bumped into the wall behind her pressing herself as flat against it as she possibly could, her eyes never leaving the male in front of her as he stood indifferent to her discomfort and counted out the wad of bills, grunting as he reached the number for the amount due and turned heading back out the door without another word.

Unnerved by the unexpected invasion of her apartment (not to mention personal space) Chair stood looking at the open door another minute, before quickly moving across the room and shutting it, locking it in the process.

The fear based adrenaline spike she'd experienced causing her hands to shake slightly as she turned the small latch.

Chair leaned her forehead against the door a moment as she tried to calm her rapidly racing heart.

"Well..That's a rather Crap-tastic way to wake up in the morning." she finally muttered out loud while taking a step back from the closed door.

Chair gazed briefly over at her bed with mild regret before starting to make her way over to the bathroom with the intention of taking a shower to wash the memory of her landlords nasty funk from her pores, when the distant sound of someone banging on one of the doors from down the hall filtered through the walls to her ears.

Chair glanced between the flimsy lock on her own apartment's door and, the still door less bathroom with unease, before mentally chastising herself for the hesitation (your being ridicules It's not like he's actually going to come charging back through that door…especially now that he's collected the rent from you) in spite of the inner pep talk Chair still found she wasn't comfortable with the idea of getting completely naked at that moment shifting her direction away from the bathroom and heading back across the room instead.

"Looks like I will definitely be skipping my morning shower today." She mumbled miserably as she started to gather up the rest of the clothing and things she needed to finish getting ready, before Modo showed up.

An hour later a light knock pulled Chair's focus from the pages of the book she had only half been paying attention too, to pass the time as she waited for Modo to arrive.

Marking her place with a scrap of paper Chair made her way over to the door only to pause with her hand hovering indecisively above the handle, instead of just throwing it open like she usually did.

"Modo?" Chair called cautiously through the wood holding her breath as she waited for the reply.

" Yes?.."

" Chair?...Everything alright?" Modo's slightly muffled voice answered in confusion.

Letting the breath she'd been holding out, in a relieved puff, Chair cracked the door open peeking through it briefly to further confirm that it was in fact the stone furred Martian, before opening it to allow him entrance into her apartment.

" Sorry." she let out Shakely as he stepped cautiously into the room his gaze quickly scanning it before coming back to rest on her in with mild concern and confusion.

" You ok?" He asked before reaching up to take off his helmet holding it under one arm as he glanced around the room curiously again .

"Hmm Oh yeah…Sorry about that… I'm fine ... How about you…are..are you ready to head out." Chair replied running her hand through her hair agitatedly as her eyes darted nervously to the side, missing the odd look the grey Martian shot in her direction at her out of character response.

Modo twitched his antenna slightly trying to get a feel for Chairs emotional state, as he opened his mouth to reply puzzled by her odd behavior, when he paused his nose wrinkling as it picked up on an unpleasant acrid scent that was completely out of place in Chairs small apartment.

leaning forward slightly Modo scrunched his nose up as he inhaled breathing in through his mouth at the same time as his nose to better pick up on the slightly faded scent still lingering in the air,

His eye widening as he finally sorted out the random smell of unwashed male mixed with the bitter fermented tinge of alcohol.

Chair looked up in surprise as Modo suddenly stepped towards her his expression unreadable as he quickly bent down until he was almost touching the top of her head with his nose stopping just short of burring it in her hair.

Startled but not actually frightened by the usually reserved mouse's peculiar actions, Chair continued to stare up at him with a mix of confusion and curiosity as he inhaled deeply above her a moment his breath just ruffling the top of her curls, the tickling sensation causing an array of goosebumps to prickle along the back of her arms and neck.

Modo stilled his eye narrowing as he picked up more of the scent coming from Chair a cold spike shooting down his back at the possible implications, His chest tightening with worry Modo quickly straitened back up clicking his teeth together audibly in agitation, the sound causing Chair to jump slightly as she blinked up at him in surprise at the action.

"Uh…Modo Hun.. Your kind of weirding me out a bit here …"Chair said as she gazed at him perplexed.

Modo stared down at Chair silently as he tried to think of how to put his sudden unease into words before just deciding to be direct.

"Chair… are you sure you're alright? I can tell your upset… and I can also smell… something …that has me concerned,.." he said watching as the bewildered look in Chair's eyes slowly changed to comprehension as she gazed up at him.

Chair sighed shifting her gaze to the side and wrapping one arm across her waist while reaching up to rub distractedly at her temple taking a deep breath as she thought of how to answer.

"I probably should have realized, what with that super schnozz of yours there was a chance of you picking up on that level of Gad awful B.O...even with as much time has passed." she finally said absently

"That response really isn't making me feel any better here." Modo said his voice taking on a worried note as he continued to stare down at the top of Chairs head his tail flicking around their feet in growing agitation.

"Sorry." Chair said looking back up at him her expression contrite. "I actually am ok …just a bit rattled is all." She added with a shrug.

"You mind explaining that a bit more for me?" Modo asked as he studied her expression a moment more.

"I'm all ears." he added twitching his own set, in an attempt at humor to help lighten the moment an ease some of the stress he was picking up on from Chair , earning a small laugh and smile from her at the action.

"Yeah I can see that." Chair said with a chuckle before her expression turned serious again.

"I'm probably just over thinking it…but something did happen earlier that definitely made me uncomfortable." Chair started crossing and rubbing her arms before continuing.

Less than ten minutes later Modo was staring down at Chair his body posture tense as she finished with her brief explanation of the mornings events with her landlord.

"Maybe I should have a talk with this landlord of yours about basic manners…Especially when it comes to how to treat a female." Modo gritted out his tail whipping to the side and accidently snagging against the old folding auditorium seat sitting next to the door sending it flying into the wall with a crash.

Chair flinched slightly at the hand sized dent that appeared in the already cracked plaster as the seat slide back down to the floor.

"Well…there goes my deposit." she muttered dryly before looking back up into Modo's face as his expression shifted from upset to mildly sheepish.

" Oops sorry about that." he said glancing back down at her.

"It's ok as many holes, wind up in Charley's walls, I actually figured it was only a matter of time before I ended up with a few of my own." Chair replied with wry humor as she looked up at him in mock exasperation.

"Guess we do have a bit of a reputation when it comes to that sort of thing." Modo said rubbing at the back of his neck, before his manner shifted back to serious.

"But…I did mean what I said; I wouldn't mind having a Mouse to man talk with this landlord of yours." He added his expression darkening.

"Thank you, but It's alright …It just wigged me out a bit is all. I'm honestly not looking to start up any trouble over it though. Besides I don't really have anywhere else to go at the moment. If you did say something to him and he got it in his head to just kick me out instead. I'd kind of be up the creek without a paddle, but I do appreciate the offer." Chair said reaching out and giving Modo's arm a light pat in gratitude, her fingers ghosting through the soft fur absently a brief second before she realized what she was doing and dropped them back down to her side once more.

Modo blinked in surprise at the soft touch his tail temporarily stilling for the barest moment as he processed it, before he pursed his mouth together the corners twisting down into a small grimace as he contemplated Chairs response his expression turning grim.

"Ok …I'll hold off on the chat for the time being… But you let me know if he pulls anything like that again and I'll be happy to give him an earful on Martian curtesy." Modo said his eye notably flashing red a moment before returning to normal.

" Deal" Chair replied focusing on Modo's eye curiously.

"Modo… if you don't mind me asking…exactly why does your eye… do that?" Chair asked taking a step closer to him as she did.

"Do what?" Modo asked his tone confused.

" Err..well sometimes it looks like it… glows whenever your ..angry or upset." Chair answered.

Modo tensed his expression suddenly becoming uncomfortable." I honestly forget that it does that ,it's the same as the arm actually." Modo answered with a small shrug.

"You mean its…" Chair trailed off with a gesture in the direction of Modo's mechanical limb.

"Cybernetic …yes, my original eye on the right actually made it through the initial blast that took my arm but…Karbunkle replaced it around the same time as my missing limb; to test alongside the neural links he had installed to work my arm.

"….The damage was… too extensive for it to be tested on the other side." Modo replied reaching up and briefly touching the patch covering his left eye socket.

"But …unlike Throttle's eye replacements mines never given me any real trouble vision wise at least, so… I just don't think about it that often." Modo added dropping his hand back down as he looked back at chair once more.

"Both Throttle eyes are cybernetic?!" Chair said in surprise, latching on to that bit of information to try and distract herself from the horror she felt, at the thought of Modo having his still functioning eye forcefully removed.

"Yeah bit of a long story… but yes, his don't function correctly though; it's why he wears the field specks all the time, their modified to help him see." Modo answered.

" Oh… I've seen him rub at them before when he was tired or distracted and… thought maybe he got Migraines… or was sensitive to bright lights." Chair said contemplatively.

"I think he does actually, and he might be sensitive to lights as well…but I've never asked and he's never said anything about it…Honestly that time.. Just isn't something we talk about too often." Modo answered his expression becoming remote, as he partially lifted up his robotic arm starring down at his hand, as he clenched and unclenched the metallic fingers temporarily lost in his thoughts.

Chair realized she had more than likely drug up some rather unpleasant memories with her sudden line of questioning. Concerned by the distant pained expression on the large males face Chair cautiously reached out and placed her own hand over the top of Modo's metal one looking up at him as she did.

Modo blinked as Chairs small hand suddenly covered his robotic one the sight serving to pull him back to the present.

Looking over and meeting her gaze once more Modo smiled warmly, watching the tension slowly ease from her shoulders and limbs as she gazed back at him with apparent relief.

"I think we better get a move on before Charley-girl gets worried and sends out a Martian search party to retrieve us." he said gently pulling his arm back and placing his helmet on, then gesturing towards the door.

Chair grinned back at him in amusement "your right about that, I definitely don't need any more holes in my apartment to try and explain away." she added with a snort of laughter as Modo wrinkled his nose back at her his expression turning sour at the reminder.

A few minutes later Modo watched as Chair placed her own helmet on tucking her hair up into it and obscuring the handful of curls that had escaped the knot she had attempted to secure them in from his view. Before climbing up behind him on Lil Hoss with a practiced ease that he was certain would have shocked her only two weeks prior

Modo felt his heart give a hard thump against the underside of his ribcage as Chair smiled trustingly up at him as he glanced back at her over his shoulder and carefully wrapped his tail around her waist for added security on the trip to the last chance.

Starting Hoss up with a roar and heading out he absently maneuvered the powerful bike around a particularly rough patch of road as he continued to think,

Modo found himself tightening his tail slightly and tugging Chair up against him a bit more firmly than usual, as his mind briefly touched back on the events that she had mentioned to him from that morning.

Quickly coming to the decision to discuss working out a few basic self-defense moves with Throttle and Vinnie for her; it didn't need to be anything fancy.

While Chair was plucky like Charley in her own way, unlike the resourceful mechanic she really couldn't be called a fighter in any sense of the word… so something simple but effective would be the best bet for her.

And Modo knew he would honestly feel better if she at least new one or two things to use in case of an emergency.. at the very least how to throw a proper punch and dodge. If Chair could manage to take someone by surprise she might actually stand a chance of escaping long enough to find help.

Which meant it was definitely something he wanted to discus with her; He just wondered how she'd feel about the idea when they reached the garage.

[20 minutes later]

"You want me to do What Now?!" Chair asked incredulously as she stared up at the Grey Martian before her after he had returned from putting up their helmets.

"I want you to try and hit me" Modo repeated slowly looking down at her earnestly.

"That's what I thought you said." Chair said in exasperation. "Why on earth would you want me to try to deck you?" Chair asked as Modo continued to stare at her.

" Just humor me." Modo said shrugging.

"Please" he added when she continued to simply stare at him like he'd flipped his lid.

" Alright?" Chair finally said balling up her fist and taking a halfhearted swing at the burley Martians chest.

Modo frowned as the rather lackluster blow glanced off his chest barley registering at all.

Pursing his mouth slightly Modo mumbled "we've got a lot of work to do." as he reached out and carefully caught Chair's balled up hand before she could pull it back.

Gently Un-rolling it as he did and holding it out in front of him absently stroking his thumb across her palm as he looked back into Chairs questioning expression.

"Ok first things first, you make a proper fist like this." he said rolling her fingers back up and forming them back into a tight ball with her thumb on the outside this time.

"If you're going punch someone you never tuck your thumb up into your hand, unless you're looking to break it." Modo added releasing Chairs hand as he did.

" Ok…and you're telling me this …why?" Chair asked her tone slightly bewildered as she stared down at her hand a moment before glancing back up at the grey furred Martian in confusion.

" I think it could …just come in handy to know at least a few things on how to defend your self is all" Modo replied with another shrug shifting restlessly as Chair continued to stare at him.

Chair's expression slowly filled with comprehension as she looked up into Modo's carefully blank features. "This is about what happened this morning isn't it? You're still worried about it." Chair said gently, feeling an odd tightening in her chest as she looked at him.

"Big guys still worried about what exactly there doll?" Vinnies voice suddenly rang out as he and the others filed into the room from the door connecting to the garages separate living quarters.

"Oh it's really not that big of a dea.."Chair started only to be cut off by Modo's own response.

"Chairs landlord decided to pay her a bit of an unorthodox visit this morning." Modo replied his expression darkening slightly as he went into a quick explanation of Chair's rather unpleasant run in with her apartment manager earlier.

"Sounds to me like somebody could use a few lessons on Martian manners." Throttle said his own expression turning serious.

"That's what I said." Modo replied his lips quirking up in a darkly humored smile as he met the gaze of Martian group's leader.

" You know Bro's we could go have a bit of a heart to heart with him on the importanceof the matter" Vinnie added wryly absently flipping one of his flares up in the air and catching it repeatedly as he did.

"Now hold on a second I don't need you guys taking off with some half-baked plan to rough up my landlord over something so…so trifling." Chair said waving her hands to regain the attention of the muscle bound Martians before they could do something rash.

"I'm afraid I have to agree with Chair on this one guys. As much as it pains me to say it...you can't exactly go around laying a beat down on men just for being complete creeps." Charley added from where she'd been listening in the doorway.

"Aw come on now sweetheart. Who said anything about roughing him up, we just want to have a little talk is all" Vinnie said glancing over at the mechanic with a toothy grin.

"You forget how well I know you three and how often one or all of you, end up talking with your hands when it comes to these particular types of discussions." Charley responded rolling her eyes while giving an amused snort.

Vinnie simply shrugged and smiled his expression unrepentant as he looked back over in Chair and Modo's direction.

" I appreciate your concern guys but I'm fine, I'll just make sure next time I have the Money ready before I answer the door is all." Chair said looking back at Modo as he stepped towards her again obviously not any happier with her suggested solution to the problem than he was when she had declined his offer to talk to her landlord for her the first time.

"If you're not going to let any of us talk to him, I'd at least feel better if you learned a few moves to help defend yourself just in case." He said with obvious frustration.

"I'm not really sure that's necessary…" Chair started only to trail off as she took in Modo's pained expression. "But… I guess it couldn't actually hurt to know at least one or two things just in case." she added watching as a look of intense relief passed across the gray furred males face at her response.

The shrill sound of the garages phone suddenly rang out through the room, drawing everyone's attention.

"I've got it." Charley said waving Chair off when they both started in the direction of the phone at the same time.

Chair refocused on Modo again as Charley answered the phone and began talking adamantly with the person on the other line.

"So…" she hedged rubbing at her arm absently. "When exactly did you want to get started with these lessons of yours?" Chair asked looking up at the much larger male.

" The sooner the better." Modo answered.

"That's what I thought you were going to say." Chair said with a sigh, turning slightly as the click of Charley hanging up the phone reached her ears and the auburn haired mechanic suddenly began heading in their direction with a grin.

"Good news!" Charley started excitedly. "That was the dealer that I called the other day trying to find that piece I needed to finish fixing your truck door."

" And?!" Chair said her face lighting up with excitement as well, missing the sudden look of disappointment that briefly passed across the grey Martians own features at Charley's following reply.

"They've got it, they're going to ship it out today and it should arrive sometime this week."

"Which means you should be up and running around in your own ride before the weekend." Charley said with a chuckle.

"That's great!" Chair said looking back at Modo with a grin." This means I won't have to worry that I'm bothering you when I need a ride anymore." Chair said happily before turning back to talk animatedly with Charley as they both headed in the direction of Chairs old truck.

"It…wasn't a bother." Modo said out load softly to no one in particular as he watched the two females rapidly moving across the garage in the opposite direction his expression troubled.

[The next morning]

"Ouch!" Chair yelped as she stood shaking her hand out and rubbing at her sore fingers, while glaring up at Modo as he continued to stand completely unfazed before her.

"You know, you could at least pretend like that did more than tickle you for my prides sake." Chair said with dry sarcasm as she continued to rub at her smarting digits.

"Sorry" Modo replied with a chuckle. "That actually was a bit better you held your arm and fist correctly this time at least, now we just need to start working on the best place for you to throw a punch in order to actually cause some physical damage."

"At your size the chest isn't really going to do much to a larger opponent other than make them angry." He said reaching out to take Chair's hand in his much larger flesh one bending down slightly to examine it a moment himself.

still slightly surprised by how much warmer his hand always felt compared to her own Chair felt her heart kick up a notch as Modo carefully felt each of her fingers before shifting his attention to her slightly reddind knuckles.

"Well that's easier said than done when I barley come up to above my practice partners abs." Chair responded wryly in an attempt to distract herself from the odd feelings assaulting her at the large Martians attentive actions.

Chair shifted back a bit and glanced up to meet the silent laughter that filled Modo's expression at her comment.

"I suppose you do have a point about that one." he replied with humor before his face shifted back to serious once more his hand closing around and completely engulfing Chairs much smaller one for a brief moment before releasing it.

"I think that'll do for a first lesson until we can figure out something that might work a little better for you." He said as he studied Chair thoughtfully his expression becoming speculative as he straightened back up once more.

Chair jerked a bit as she suddenly felt Modo's tail brush up against her arm almost caressingly before wrapping around her leg , as he stood looking down lost in his thoughts the expression on his face distant.

Chair was starting to get the impression the action really was subconscious on his part, an automatic reflex of some kind and whether or not he was aware of doing it on any level, Chair wasn't completely sure.

Now that she thought about it though she… had actually witnessed similar acts and brief touches happen between the mice and Charley, and even themselves. With each other it was usually just their tails brushing or briefly wrapping around a limb in a light squeeze.

But Chair had also seen them absently brush their cheeks against the top of the mechanics head during hugs on occasion as well, and she was starting to get the impression that the actions might hold more significance than she'd initially thought.

None of them really seemed to pay the touches much mind though or act in anyway as if they were something out of the ordinary for them when they did happen to occur. Not even Charley Who Chair supposed after living with them for so long was probably used to it at this point.

(Maybe I should ask her about it?) Chair thought distractedly as Modo's tail slowly unwound itself from around her calf and went back to swishing around their feet again.

A loud buzzing announced the arrival of someone outside the garages doors and served as a signal for Modo to step back out of sight through the connecting doors to Charley's separate living quarters with Throttle and Vinnie, as the auburn haired mechanic in question made her way from where she'd been working at the back of the garage to see who it was.

Chair had just made it back to the desk to start work on sorting some new invoices, When Charley called out to her excitedly.

" It's here!" Charley said a grin splitting her face while she waggled a brown paper wrapped parcel in Chairs direction. "So soon Really!" Chair exclaimed heading over to the mechanic with an answering grin of her own.

Modo peeked back out and watched morosely as Chair and Charley both began babbling excitedly, while tearing into the paper wrapped object like kids opening a present. His ears drooping slightly as he glanced to the side trying to tamp down on the disappointment he felt, at the prospect of Chair no longer needing him to pick her up from her apartment in the mornings, or take her back in the evenings.

Modo's ears perked back up in sudden surprise as Charley's irate voice and Chairs slightly disappointed one suddenly carried to them, Charley's half shout bouncing of the walls in the confines of the garage.

"How could they send the wrong part!?"

Modo found himself experiencing a burst of elation tinged by mild guilt for his happiness at the sudden turn of events. As he glanced back out into the garage to watch as the auburn haired mechanic stomped back across the room and yanked the old rotary dial phones receiver forcefully up to her ear before rapidly beginning to turn the numbers on the little dial.

Modo new Charley would have the mix up sorted back out within a day or so , but that still meant he got to have a little more time with Chair before she went back to driving herself again…and Modo found he really couldn't bring himself to regret getting it.

Vinnie jumped slightly as Throttle suddenly appeared beside him, where he was standing tucked partially behind the doorframe leading into the den quietly observing the grey Martian as he stood gazing out at the blond haired female in the garage.

"Geeze bro! You trying to give me a heart attack or something." Vinnie whispered agitatedly scowling over at the tan mouse in irritation for startling him.

Throttle merely raised one eye ridge above his glasses at the white furred males jumpy behavior, before turning back to take in the rest of the scene playing out in the garage, allowing a few more minutes to pass in silence between himself and a somewhat fidgety Vinnie before finally speaking.

"You do realize Charley's gonna jerk a knot in your tail so hard it'll forever be kinked if she ever finds out that you had anything to do with the mix up on that order …right?". Throttle asked

Vinnie flinched slightly glancing over at Throttle in trepidation at having his attempt at subterfuge figured out so easily by the other male, before his expression suddenly shifted to calculating as an idea seemed to occur to him.

"Well then I guess we... better hope she never finds out." Vinnie said with a shrug relaxing partially and leaning back against the inner wall beside the door frame as he looked back at Throttle a smirk suddenly tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"Just what do you mean by we? I wasn't part of this." Throttle said tensing and shooting a look in the white furred male's direction.

"Hey…I may have been the master mind, but if you think I'm going down for this on my own if Charley ever catches wind of it.. you've got another thing coming Bro." Vinnie replied with a grin.

"Oh? And just what prey-tell makes you think, you can take me down with you?" Throttle asked tugging his glasses down slightly as he starred over at Vinnie curiously.

"I call guilty by default bro, whether you did the deed yourself or not, you knew or at least suspected something about it to have put it together this quickly and didn't do anything to try and stop me … so I'm pretty sure as fare as Charley-girls concerned… if.. she happens to find that little detail out…Then that counts as you being in on it." Vinnie replied with a smug grin as the older mouse gaped back at him.

"Alright… I concede your point." Throttles said a look of impressed surprise filling his eyes at the younger mouse's quick thinking before shifting his gaze out towards where Modo's silhouette filled the doorway leading out to the garage.

"I don't suppose you'd care to explain why you felt it necessary to play phone tag behind Charley's back would you?" He asked casting a speculative look in the white furred mouse's direction.

Vinnie shifted in place his expression slightly uncomfortable as he glanced over and meet Throttle gaze through the lenses of his glasses.

"Come on bro you've seen the way he looks at her…I just wanted to buy him a little more one on one time is all, big guys been practically falling over her like a love sick puppy for the better part of a month now… and not counting that crush he had on that crazy ass bird chick.. Billie whatever, I honestly can't remember seeing him this seriously interested in a female since…"Vinnie suddenly stopped his mouth forming into a grim line.

"Yeah I know." Throttle said his own mouth tightening slightly as he looked back at the grey furred male in question his expression becoming distant in thought.

"Then there's some of the other things he's been doing when it comes to her and we both know what those mean… at least on mars" Vinnie added looking back at Throttle who merely shrugged before responding.

"True but this isn't mars and I'm not sure Modo's even aware of doing them." Throttle said his mind momentarily touching in amusement on the fact that Vinnie had been subconsciously displaying similar behaviors when it came to Charley for years now.

Vinnie snorted as he glanced fleetingly back towards the garage door before turning back into Charley's living quarters.

"How in the name of earth or mars could any male be that oblivious to their own actions?" Vinnie scoffed as he walked further into the den completely missing the odd look the tan furred male shot in his direction at the comment.

"How indeed?" Throttle muttered sarcastically slowly shaking his head as he followed behind him.


	9. Wise mice say…Only fools rush in…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (W.W.T) Here once more I've been trying to work more on the show not tell aspect of my writing and I hope that comes through more in the next few chapters. I would also like to leave another special thank you for (Youkai55) for their help and comments when it comes to my story, and a shout out to (Eveline) for all the reviews, and yes Chair's name is a play on words. I have a bit of an odd sense of humor when it comes to names for characters. In fact one of the first stories I wrote for my own entertainment involved a character whose name was a play on the client side systems error number that pops up when the web page you want can't be found. That bit of random information aside here's the next chapter of mars needs mates.
> 
> Disclaimer: Pretty sure we all know at this point… but just in case when it comes to the Bmfm I still don't own em'. Except for a bunch of stuff I like to call collectables, but my family sometimes teasingly refers to as my space mouse crap. I do however own my Oc Chair and the idea for this particular story itself.

"Sorry about this." Chair said looking up at Modo as he followed her into Manuals both waving to the friendly store clerk while they headed in the direction of the hand carts.

"It's not a problem." Modo replied his tone warm, as he reached over Chair's shoulder to take the small basket from her to carry, grinning at the surprised look that crossed her face at the action before gesturing for her to precede him into the store.

Chair smiled gratefully back at him as they started together down one of the little isles containing an assortment of canned goods.

"When I found out the part for my truck was supposed to be in this week. I thought I might be able to hold off a few more days without having to trouble you to take me to pick up more groceries."

" But… Charley's not sure exactly when the correct part will get in.. What with the mix up an all and I'm down to about one package of ramen and a box of oatmeal." Chair said absently while she scanned through the small selection finally settling on a few cans of green beans placing them gently in the cart Modo held for her before heading further into the store.

"I honestly don't mind" Modo replied halting in place as Chair suddenly spotted the produce bin and took off in the direction of the fresh fruit with an excited cry of delight.

Modo flinched slightly at the high pitched sound and reached up to rub at the back of one ear as he followed along behind at a more sedate pace.

(Guess she really likes fruit) he thought as he neared where Chair was happily placing a variety of apples into a small plastic bag, The look on her face reminding him more of a woman picking out jewelry than produce.

"I take it you like apples" Modo said with a chuckle as he moved up beside a happily humming Chair as she continued to sort through the available selection of fruits. Chair paused in the middle of reaching for a particularly large apple at his words, her expression rapidly switching from one of excitement to embarrassment.

"Sorry" she said glancing self-consciously up at the large male next to her.

"Their actually my favorite food, and it's been a while since I was able to pick any up." she added with a small shrug placing the almost full bag into the cart, her attempt at nonchalance overshadowed by the guarded and wary air she took on.

Chair had become accustomed to people trying to offer what to them may have seemed like well-meant advice when she happened to show enthusiasm for any type of food. But their comments had only ever served to make her uncomfortable, and while Modo had never done or said anything along those lines to her since she'd known him. Chair honestly couldn't help the attack of nerves she experienced at that moment.

Recognizing her sudden discomfort if not the cause Modo laughed "Hey I'm not judging, you're looking at a mouse that could probably eat his own weight in hotdogs and have room to spare for root beer."he said Watching as Chair visibly relaxed at this her shoulders un-tensing as she grinned back at him.

"Well now that's really saying something." Chair said with a chuckle her tone taking on a teasing note, as she reached out and gave his stomach a light pat her fingers just skimming across the muscles of his abs before she turned and headed in the direction of the coolers completely missing the way the large mouse's breath momentarily stuttered at the brief touch.

"Hey! Now! I'm not that big" Modo said with mock offense as he came back to himself and followed after Chair his eye gleaming in amusement.

"Says the walking mouse mountain." Chair replied shooting a playful glance over her shoulder as she opened the door to the dairy cooler and pulled out a package of sharp cheddar, Pausing when she took in Modo's almost horrified expression as his nose wrinkled up visibly behind his helmets visor.

"What's wrong ?"Chair asked looking back and forth between the Martian male and the package of cheese in her hand with apparent confusion when she noticed the direction of his gaze.

" Is something wrong with the cheese ?"She asked glancing down at the package.

" No…I guess not… just not very fond of it myself." Modo replied looking as if he'd bitten into something rather unpleasant as he continued to stare at the package in Chairs hand with obvious disgust.

Chair stared at him quizzically another minute , shifting her gaze back to the plastic wrapped hunk of cheese, her expressing becoming contemplative as she looked between it and the Martian male once more before placing it back on the shelf where she'd grabbed it from.

" I'm… just gonna assume this has something to do with that super nose of yours." Chair said closing the door and passing the dairy section all together, followed closely by a relieved looking Modo as they headed in the direction of the stores meat selection instead.

It was dark by the time Modo pulled Hoss up in front of Chairs apartment building, and even with her adamant protests about it not being necessary, because there was only the one bag. He insisted on helping Chair carry her groceries up the stairs to her apartment.

Simply stating that "his grey furred Mama hadn't raised him to be idle" while moving around Chair and holding the door to the building open for her.

Chair walked past him pursing her lips in exasperation but finding she really couldn't bring herself to continue trying to put her foot down over such a small thing especially when he was being so damn sweet about it. On top of already taking the time to chauffeur her around wherever she needed to go on a regular basis.

Chair preceded Modo up the stairs pausing a moment to sort through her keys when they finally reached her door.

"Thanks" Chair said glancing up as the large male bent down to hand her, the small paper bag of groceries.

"You know Modo you really are a big sweetheart." She added.

Acting on impulse Chair reached up to place her hand against the back of his neck to stop him from straitening back up all the way, as she quickly planted a small kiss along the bottom half of his Cheek where she could just reach it.

Chair fought against the urge to giggle as the plush fur on the underside of his jaw briefly tickled her lips and nose the sensation different but not unpleasant as she pulled away.

"Thanks… for everything Modo I really mean that." Chair said with a smile, as the grey furred male froze in place and began Blushing bright enough for her to clearly make out through his fur, even in the semi gloom of the poorly lit corridor. It never failed to amaze her in spite of his tough appearance how bashful he actually was.

Chair couldn't help the small laugh that did actually manage to escape as he stammered for a split second over his response, the big mouse's flustered reaction making him appear adorably boyishly to her in that moment.

(I honestly wouldn't have thought he'd be so tongue tied over a little peck on the cheek…it really is cute) Chair thought watching as the large male flushed even further while looking down at her.

"You're welcome." he finally murmured.

Chair's amusement quickly turned to shock, when Modo suddenly bent down and grazed his cheek across the top of her head, the sensation just registering as the grey Martians large body briefly boxed her in his close proximity causing the hairs on the back of her neck and arms to raise in awareness, and her pulse to speed up into an oddly rythmic thrum, before he stepped back.

Chair found herself experiencing her own loss for words, her mouth suddenly feeling as if it had been jammed with glue and sawdust as they both regarded each other for a terse moment.

Modo Shifted self-consciously from one foot to the other, his tail beginning to flick then jerk nervously across the dusty hall floor .As Chair continued to stand frozen in place without saying anything, the silence between them gradually lengthening until he couldn't take it any longer.

"Goodnight Chair-ma'am …I'll see you in the morning. "He blurted glancing fleetingly into Chair's eye's before he turned and headed rapidly back down the stairwell.

Chair continued to stand in the empty corridor starring as Modo's retreating form disappeared from sight down the stairs, her heart giving another one of those oddly concerning flutters, which had been occurring more and more often when she was around the sweet tempered Martian.

She finally turned away from the empty hall only dimly aware of opening and closing her apartment door then leaning her back against the flimsy peeling wood.

Chair stood staring out into the sparsely furnished room in front of her in thought without really seeing it, the unsure expression that had etched itself onto Modo's features at her freeze up tugging at her…

but she really hadn't known how to react, there was definitely more to the cheek brushing and tail thing then she had originally picked up on. It seemed innocent enough… but in that instant with her heart still echoing the odd rhythm from moment before it suddenly felt much more profound to her.

"Oh Gee-gee what am I getting myself into here." Chair whispered out loud in sudden trepidation, as she finally openly admitted to herself that she was developing a serious crush on the burly biker.

Chair slowly stepped away from the door making her way over to the small kitchen area to start putting away her purchases, carefully beginning to unload the small bag, while trying not to freak out over her recent self-epiphany.

Chair's stomach churned with nerves while she attempted to distract herself with the menial task to no avail, completely aware that she was starting to walk a dangerously thin line when it came to how she felt about her grey furred alien friend.

In a way it was actually terrifying when Chair thought about how easy it would actually be to just let go, and fall for him. There was just something about how sweet and attentive the big male was, coupled up with all that adorable bashfulness that she couldn't help but find charming;

If Chair really was going for complete honesty with herself at this point the only thing even remotely holding her back from seriously considering pursuing anything further than friendship with Modo… was the fact that he wasn't human.

The confusion Chair was experiencing over her current thoughts and emotions wasn't nearly as racking as the guilt that hit her over just how small minded and bigoted that line of thinking made her… especially taking into account how certain people had treated her over the years…but it really wasn't Modo's appearance that was hanging her up.

Honestly after she had gotten over her initial shock at meeting him and the others because holy crap aliens,and then spending so much time around them Chair hardly noticed or thought about it.

Even with the differences that existed between their facial structures and humans. The expressions the mice made, and the way they acted just made them seem like a couple of regular guys. I'll be it huge, hairy, ridiculously buffguys with tails.. but still just guys.

All things considered, physically wise they had a lot in common with human males (heck they were better built than most really, seeing as they all sported musculature worthy of male calendar models) So Chair definitely could say she found Modo attractive in that sense.

but… for all the similarities that did exist between them, at the end of the day he was still a completely different species… and Chair honestly didn't know where that left her.

Where the mice even attracted to humans at all …If Vinnie's behavior around Charley was anything to go by then maybe... but that didn't necessarily mean Modo felt the same way about human females himself… let alone her.

Hell she didn't even know if they were going to remain on earth… from the way they talked about Mars She didn't think so…

And if by some far flung chance it did all magically work out between her and Modo. An things began to progress the way they do in a relationship …even taking into account that she wasn't exactly some frail toothpick… there was such a big size difference between her and the nearly seven foot Martian, Would they even be capable of…?

Chairs mind immediately shied away from that line of thought, chalking the whole thing up into the realm of (HERE BE BIG ASS FURRY DRAGONS!) As she slammed her cabinet door shut in frustration, at herself for even remotely entertaining those particular types of thoughts when it came to the burly male.

Modo was her friend, one of the best ones she'd ever had and while Chair recognized that she was developing feelings for him, at the end of it all she really didn't want to risk screwing up what they already had by trying to push for more, Especially when she didn't even know if they could have any form of future together.

Chair leaned her head against her hand miserably a moment before turning in the direction of the small bathroom. Hopefully a hot shower would help her, clear her head of… whatever this thing between her and Modo was before she made herself sick by overthinking it.

[Two days later]

"Ok try taking two steps to the left and then making the quarter turn I showed you to the right look out that you don't …"Chair cringed internally as Charley suddenly lost her balance and fell in a rather undignified heap onto the garage floor.

"Ouch!" Charley muttered rubbing at her bruised posterior. "That's definitely tougher than it looks." Charley commented turning to look at Chair as she did.

"It took me a couple years to master it myself" Chair replied with a laugh bending down to help the auburn haired mechanic up from where she was currently sprawled on the cement floor.

" Pssshhtt! What could be so hard about learning a few fancy dips and spins?" Vinnie said dismissively as he glanced over from where he and the other two mice where currently engaged in a game of darts. Somehow still managing to hit the target almost head on, in spite of facing the opposite direction as he released his grip on the dart he was holding.

The action earned him a sour look from Throttle as the white furred male, momentarily beat out his current score. The sound of another dart burrowing its self solidly into the board drew Vinnies attention back to the game as the Martian leader suddenly threw his own dart and hit the target dead center effectively winning the game.

Much to the other two Mice's obvious displeasure as they both glared over at the tan furred male, who merely barred his teeth in a smug grin in response to their muteness stares.

Chair and Charley both shared an annoyed look before glaring over in the white mouse's direction at the comment. Chair suppressed the flare of anger that shot through her, at Vinnie's casual brush off of all the hard work and time it actually took to master a particular set of dance moves.

" All right tough guy if it's so easy let's see you do it." Chair said in sudden challenge, while narrowing her eyes in irritation at the Martian male.

Vinnie glanced over at her in surprise his ears twitching slightly as he picked up on the aggravated note creeping into Chairs voice, before his eyes slid slowly over to an equally vexed Charley who merely crossed her arms and began tapping one foot impatiently as she watched him.

" Well? You herd her hotshot let's see it… Unless after all that you're just all talk and no game?" Charley added tauntingly as she raised one eyebrow in his direction.

" Ah well…ah? That is…" Vinnie started suddenly looking nervous as he realized the mess he had just created for himself, before trying to cover his flub with his usual brashness.

"And just why would a prime hunk of Macho Mousiness like myself, stoop to doing something like that?" He asked crossing his own arms and shooting a cocky look back in both females direction.

"Well?" Chair hedged a moment catching Charley's eye and grinning wickedly as a thought suddenly occurred to her.

" You know… some earth females actually find it Impressive when a males a good dancer." She said coyly glancing over at the white mouse and waiting to see if he'd take the bait like she thought he would.

" Please! I am one of the fastest males this side of Orion's belt. I don't need fancy footwork to impress the ladies, when I've got my reputation for Speed!" Vinnie replied smugly his face breaking out in a self-assured grin, and completely missing the equally wide Smile that suddenly split Chairs face at his response.

" Well… considering most of them associate it with a male's skills in the bedroom…I'm not sure speed is actually the thing you would want to bring to mind in that instance… but if it is… I guess maybe what you're going for is honesty then." Chair said with a casual shrug her eyes sparkling with barley veiled humor, as Vinnie broke off from whatever he was going to say in response with a startled sputter as he starred over at her in shock.

Chair simply grinned back as Charley, Throttle and Modo roared with sudden laughter at the young mouse's flabbergasted face.

"Its ok Vin." Chair suddenly added her expression rapidly shifting from mischievous to sympathetic,

"Your secrets safe with us." She mock whispered while looking over at Charley who was quick to pick up on the teasing carefully schooling her own expression into one of seriousness while nodding back sagely at Chair.

"Definitely" the mechanic replied deadpan.

"We won't tell a soul about your…problem." Chair added with an exaggerated wink in his direction.

Vinnie merely gaped back at the two of them his expression growing steadily more horrified at the implications they were making.

Both Charley and Chair unable to maintain the charade any longer finally broke down and devolved into a fit of giggles and undignified snorts, at his continual flustered face, before they both regained enough control to turn and walk towards the garages living quarters, The sight of them moving away from him finally serving to snap the white furred male out of his frozen state.

" Hey! Wait just a second that's not…"Vinnie called out chasing after the two females as they began heading out of the garage followed closely by a chuckling Throttle and Modo.

Chair helped Charley begin setting out the things for lunch half listening as the other two males continued to rib Vinnie with the occasionally comment on his dance skills ,chuckling to herself at the white furred mouse's growing irritation.

Chair finally decided it would probably behoove them all, if she at least made a token attempt at smoothing things over between her and Vinnie, at least before the mild bruising to his pride caused any real hurt.

"I'm Sorry for giving you such a rough time Vinnie…but you did more or less insult something that I spent years learning to do by reducing it to"

"How did you so eloquently put it?... A few fancy dips and spins." Chair said as she set a couple root beers down on the table as a peace offering, next to where he currently sat his expression sullen as he glanced over in her direction.

Vinnies expression remained sour a few seconds more before he finally glanced between her and the bottles of pop finally giving her a lopsided smile in acceptance at the gesture, as he reached over to grab one of the fizzy soft drinks.

"Well I have to say doll when it comes to hitting below the belt you aren't one to pull your punches, you know that's not exactly something a guy wants to be accused of even jokingly." He said pulling the bottle towards him.

Chair chuckled and grinned without remorse as Vinnie popped the top on the root beer and took a swig.

"Hey just because I don't possess Charley's temper or your butt kicking skills doesn't mean I'm not a force to be feared and reckoned with in my own right you know." She replied snagging her own bottle of soda and wrestling briefly with the top before glaring down at it in frustration when her efforts to open it were unsuccessful.

Vinnie snorted as he took a swig of his own drink and reached over with his tail using the tip to flip the cap of Chair's bottle as she continued to struggle with it.

"I'll keep that in mind." he replied his tone dripping with sarcasm. Chair pretended to glare at him in annoyance, before she gave it up breaking out in a grin and taking a drink of her own root beer.

"You know…I can help by giving you lessons if you want." Chair offered blinking in startled surprise as Vinnie suddenly spewed soda across the table and glanced over at her, his face twisting into a combination of shock and disbelief. The action served to draw the attention of the other two Martians who stared over at them curiously.

Chair looked back at the white mouse in confusion then dawning amusement as realization set in at his reaction.

"Dance lessons…"Chair said slowly trying to keep her voice steady as she fought the urge to laugh, not wanting to further damage his already dented pride when she had been trying to make amends.

Vinnie visibly cringed, his expression becoming chagrined as what she had actually meant sank in.

"I'll think about it." he muttered his ears dipping down as the other two mice caught on to his mistaken inclination and began to snicker audibly. Causing him to flush a vibrant shade of red through his pale fur as he quickly drained the last of his root beer then chunked the empty bottle into the trash without looking at it. The glass clattering musically as it pinged of the sides of the plastic bin.

Vinnie suddenly stood making his way over to where Charley had just finished setting up a tray of hotdogs to take out to the grill surprising the Auburn haired mechanic as he suddenly grabbed it out of her hands and stomped from the room.

"What the heck was that all about?" Charley asked glancing between the other kitchen occupants and the door where Vinnie had disappeared in bewilderment.

"You two are incorrigible." Chair admonished looking over at Throttle and Modo her attempt at scolding losing any real clout as her own eyes sparkled back at them in amusement.

Charley rolled her eyes as Throttle and Modo both gave up on any pretenses at discretion at this and began to laugh out loud.

"Oh honestly you guys do you even realize how long he's going to actually pout if you keep this up." she muttered shaking her head in exasperation at the two males antics as she turned and followed the white furred mouse out of the room.

Chair suppressed a mild tinge of guilt as she took in Charley's comment. "Well she's not wrong on that. I'm not convinced I'm ever going to get him to forgive me at this rate" Chair stated as she glanced over and caught Throttle and Modo's eye.

Throttle grinned back crookedly "Vin's quick to rile up but he'll come round …Once he's had a little time too actually cool off he'll be fine, just give em' a day or so."

Modo snorted wryly at the comment "with his attention span I say just give em' till after lunch." he added with a grin reaching out with his mechanical arm to help steer a doubtful looking Chair out the kitchen door behind a chuckling Throttle.

Lunch was rather uneventful other than Charley threating to tie Throttle and Modo's tails into Pretzels if the continued to rib Vinnie, because she quote " currently had enough to take care of without having to deal with a Sulky mouse baby to boot", the threat serving to effectively halt any more attempts at teasing the white furred male.

The relatively relaxed atmosphere that had settled over the group was broken. while in the middle of helping to clean up the music that had been playing on the radio was suddenly interrupted for an emergency news broadcast.

Announcing a stream of suspected arsine cases that had recently taken place in some of downtown Chicago's districts. The majority of the place's hit had been abandoned but the most current ones had struck in a handful of residential areas although no serious injuries or casualties had been reported yet.

The mice paused in their tasks while sharing a grim look as the end of the report cited business man Lawrence limburger as having opened up a relief shelter to help those dislocated by the loss of their homes due to the spreading fires.

"You know if ole stinkface is involved with this I seriously doubt it's out of the goodness of his heart." Modo commented his tone steely.

Vinnie snorted , "You've got that right lard butts not exactly known for his generosity."

"Come on Bro's. I think it might be time for a little recon work to figure out what our scaly compatriot's level of involvement with this actually is." Throttle added while he and the others headed for the part of the garage were their motorcycles where currently parked.

"Charley-girl you and Chair mind finishing up, while we head out for a little after lunch recreational activity to work of some off the excess?" The tan mouse called over his shoulder even as he and the others climbed onto their bikes and started out of the garage.

"Now hold on just a second you numbskulls!..."Charley yelled as they peeled out

"Damn It!" She swore throwing the plate she had been holding back onto the little folding picnic table they had been using with a clatter and stomping across the room to her own bike snagging a shoulder bag of tools off one of the work benches as she passed it.

"What's going on?" Chair asked curiously as she watched the auburn haired mechanic jam her own helmet on while simultaneously swinging one leg over her own bike.

"Those Macho fuzzbrains took off before I could finish fine tuning some off the new weapons systems I just installed and knowing them, they'll somehow manage to land those furry butts of theirs in hot water if I don't catch up to them to finish the repairs." Charley answered tersely while revving up her bike and heading out after the three Martian males.

"You'd think they'd have learned their lesson the first time they pulled this stunt but…Nooo..." Charley muttered crossly her voice just audible over the sound of the bikes engine as she pulled out of the last chance, Leaving Chair standing awkwardly at the table starring fretfully after her and the others.

"Ok..I'll just tidy up then." Chair said out loud to the empty room.

In spite of her comment Chair actually stood looking down at the table a few minutes longer her gut rolling with unease over the sudden turn of events, before taking a fortifying breath and giving herself a mental shake to snap out of it.

"All Right just standing around doing nothing isn't going to help anything or anyone." Chair mumbled to herself as she gathered up the last of the plates stacking them in the center of the platter that had originally held the hotdogs and lifting the whole thing to carry into the kitchen to get started on the washing.

Four hours later Chair was wishing she had taken a little more time with the lunch clean up, as she paced the confines of the last chance with nothing to distract her from her own thoughts and worry's.

With the exception of the blob monster and a few minor skirmishes involving a handful of petty criminal's things had been relatively peaceful since she had started helping out at the garage. so much so that Chair hadn't felt the need to seriously dwell on the possible consequences of Modo and the others riding off directly into danger in quite some time.

In fact outside of when they announced that they were going on patrol Chair had, hardly felt more than a passing twinge of concern and now here she was her nerves wound so tight, they were practically a ball of knots, while she fought the urge to go to the doors and check for their return for the thousandth time.

Chair paused in surprise as the crackling static of the old Hand radio cut; through the silence of the garage startling her a second before Throttles voice began to come through it in a slightly broken stream.

"Chair if you..et th..s Vin…s coming in hot…Me..an..M..do ..close be..ind..…Charl..y..irl's..hurt ."

Chair felt a chill course down her spine as her brain pieced together the garbled message and the meaning sank in.

The return of the static at the end of the transmission serving to break her from the stupor that had momentarily overtaken her, Chair turned and rushed quickly across the garage towards the entrance hitting the switch for the automatic door just as the sound of a Motorcycle engine reached her ears. Seconds before Vinnies red bike tore through the opening in a cloud of dust flanked closely by Throttle and Modo.

Chair had just enough time to take in the sight of Charley tucked up against the white mouse's chest on the front of the bike. Before he was dismounting and carrying the weakly protesting mechanic out of the garage's work area and into the separate living quarters.

"What happened?" Chair asked looking over at the other two equally grim-faced looking mice in concern as they quickly dismounted from their own bikes and began following after Vinnie.

Modo slowed slightly at Chairs question glancing briefly back at her as he replied.

"One of Vinnies weapons malfunctioned during …our Chat with some of limburgers associates and took down part of one of the buildings we were next to..."

"Charley was half burred under the debris …it took us a will to dig her back out, her ribs are bruised pretty badly possibly cracked" He answered rapidly over his shoulder the look in his eye grave as he continued across the garage in the direction of the den.

Modo left out that, Charley had been frightened and in enough pain when it happened that even without direct contact between them, He and the others were able to pick up on it While they were in the process of trying to reach her… or that she had lost consciousness towards the end, severing the connection and leaving them in the dark on her condition. Freaking all of them out… Vin especially until they pulled her out and saw she was still breathing.

Chair flinched at the news pausing a second in her pursuit of the bikers as a thought occurred to her, and she suddenly veered off in the direction of the little nook Modo had taken her to when he had removed the splinter from her palm what felt like ages ago.

"Where are you going?" Modo asked in surprise as Chair suddenly turned and took off in the opposite direction.

"First aid kit." was the only response she gave as she rounded the corner to retrieve it.

"Oh." he replied as Chair came back out carting the kit, heading back in their direction. Modo quickly stepped to the side allowing her to precede him into the garages living quarters behind Throttle.

Chair didn't know what she had been expecting when she entered the den but the sight of Vinnie in the middle of the room the look on his face lost, as he stood holding a rather subdued Charley alternately rubbing his cheek and chin softly across the top of her head. The methodical nuzzling action seeming as much about comforting him as it was Charley as he glanced between the door and the couch in indecision …wasn't it.

Chair froze in the doorway as his gaze landed momentarily on her, before shifting down to the kit in her hands his expression becoming one of obvious relief as he moved towards the couch to gently settle the auburn haired mechanic down on it.

Coming back to herself Chair quickly made her way across the room crouching on the floor beside the white mouse as he gently laid Charley down on the couch.

"It's not that bad." Charley croaked out her voice raspy, Vinnie's teeth ground together audibly at this a split second before his mouth flew back open to give a response.

"Didn't I tell you she doesn't like to be fussed over; she really makes a terrible patient." Modo quickly interjected directing the comment at Chair and cutting off what she was sure was a doozey of a reply, from Vinnie.

Vinnie shot an irritated glare over his shoulder at the grey furred male for the interruption, as he snapped his mouth shut on whatever he was about to say. Before directing his attention back to the injured female stretched out on the sofa once more.

Vinnie started to reach out, and then hesitated with his hand hovering over the edge of Charley's denim work shirt as he glanced towards Chair and back towards the injured mechanic obviously asking for assistance.

(Ok I guess checking for injuries does fall under the girl code somewhere) Chair directed internally with bleak humor as she took the white mouse's Que.

Chair glanced over towards Charley's face for permission then reached out and gently tugged the edge of it up at the mechanics small nod of assent.

Chair cringed at the sight of the dark almost black bruises covering the exposed skin of the Charley's torso Unable to help the small gasp that escaped her even as Vinnie barked out a word she didn't recognize. While Throttle and Modo tensed visibly to the side of them and muttered something anxiously in what sounded like the same language.

Chair numbly released her grip on Charley's shirt letting it fall back into place, as Vinnie moved forward again reaching out as if to scoop her up.

"What are you doing?" Charley asked her tone irritated.

"Hospital." Vinnie bit out his expression strained.

"I already told you before we got here I don't want to go to a hospital." Charley said agitatedly trying to shift away from the white furred Martians reach.

Vinnie froze his expression becoming torn at Charley's growing distress, before he glanced around the room at the others his gaze finally falling back on Chair the look in his eye's almost pleading as he meet hers.

(I really, really hope you're not thinking she's more likely to listen to me because I'm female or something.) Chair thought briefly as she took a steadying breath while trying to work out the best way to convince the headstrong mechanic of the necessity of a trip to the hospital, a spike of relief hitting her as Throttle spoke up instead.

"Charley… Vinnies right it looks bad and you could have internal damage…something we can't see." Throttle said his words heavily weighted despite the soft tone he used.

Chair flinched at the look of panic that crossed Vinnies face at the tan mouse's words the white furred Martian's tail suddenly lashing out and snapping one of the legs off of the worn coffee table situated on the rug behind them.

Chair half expected Charley to fly off the handle, over the sudden destruction of her furniture, but to her surprise the auburn haired mechanic actually seemed to deflate after Throttles comment.

All of the fight going out of her as she stared around the room at the group of concerned and worried faces. Her gaze finally settling back on Vinnie as he stared back intensely his posture ridged.

"Alright." she finally said watching as some of the tension visibly left Vinnie's body as he leaned forward and carefully lifted her back up.

"But I'm footing your furry behinds the bill." She added with a little bit more of her usual vigor.

Vinnie gave a forced chuckle at this "Whatever you say sweetheart." He said his attempt at his regular brazen tone falling flat with the worry still written on his face as he tucked her back against his chest again. Before heading back out of the room followed closely by Throttle and Modo, with Chair trailing behind as they re-entered the garage once more.

"Hold on a second there hotstuff. You can't take me." Charley said before Vinnie could head in the direction of the bikes.

Vinnie paused his tail flicking in agitation as he looked down at Charley obviously about to protest. Halting as she suddenly reached up and placed her fingers over his mouth to stop his response.

" I'm still going but you can't exactly go waltzing in with me yourself. At least not without having to answer what I'm sure would be a rather difficult string of questions… and I don't just mean the ones involving how I obtained my injuries." Charley added while angling a pointed glance at his ears.

Vinnies expression became one of helpless frustration as the truth of Charley's statement sank in his grip tightening slightly around the auburn haired mechanic at the sudden realization.

" I can take her." Chair spoke up from where she'd been standing tucked partway behind Modo brushing up against the grey furred Martian as she moved between him and Throttle to reach Vinnie an Charley's side.

Vinnie didn't look completely happy at this but some off the strain left his features as he nodded at her.

"The keys to my truck are on kitchen table." Charley rasped as she starred at Chair gratefully.

"I'll get em'." Modo cut in heading out of the room at a rapid clip. This left the other four standing (or held in Charley's case) awkwardly for a minute before Throttle stepped in.

" right let's see about getting Charley-girl settled comfortably." he said moving across the garage in the direction of the pickup his words serving to snap the other two able bodied members of the group back into action.

"I'm going to go grab a pillow or two off the couch." Chair said heading in the direction of the den, passing an emerging Modo who paused and watched quizzically as she went back through the doors.

Less than five minutes later Charley was propped in the passenger seat with an old throw draped across her lap, and a handful of cushions to try to prevent her from jarring against the truck door during the ride.

Charley wrinkled her nose irritably as Vinnie hovered over her, trying (ineptly) to adjust the cushions around her. Until she finally shooed him away in exasperation softening the action slightly by reaching out before he could move back all the way and gently scratching her fingers along the underside of his jaw. The white mouse paused then shifted slightly so that his cheek pressed into her hand for the barest instant as he leaned part way through the open window before pulling back to stare intently back at her.

Chairs heart ached a bit at the interaction between the two as she hauled herself up into the driver's side. The sound of the door clicking into place as Throttle shut it behind her effectively breaking the two out of the moment they had been sharing.

Vinnie blinked and took a hesitant step back his eyes never leaving Charley even as Chair started up the engine and backed out of the garage heading in the direction of the nearest hospital.

Chair glanced briefly between the injured mechanic and the rearview mirror her lips pressing into a bleak line at the glimpse she caught of the three forlorn figures momentarily outlined in the doorway of the last chance as she pulled away.

Nearly six hours later Chair was on her way back to the last chance with a slightly loopy pain medicated mechanic in tow. Having phoned ahead to let the guys know Charley's condition her ribs where seriously bruised but thankfully not actually cracked or broken. Although Modo was right and Charley made for a terrible patient.

On top of fussing about whether or not all the initial tests they had run where absolutely necessary. The stubborn mechanic had flat out refused the hospitals staffs suggestion of remaining for additional observations that night. Insisting that if she wasn't at deaths door. They just give her a handful of Happy pills to get her through the worst of the healing and send her on her merry way.

Chair had barley been able to hold back her laughter at the poor Doctors flustered expression at the fiery women's continued insistence that she would be fine in a few days' time with just a little extra rest in between jobs.

Honestly if it weren't for the fresh memory of the bruises coating her lower abdomen and chest Chair Could almost have believed her.

In the end the staff on duty had begrudgingly granted her request wrapping her ribs then giving her a shot of some pain medication or another, and a small bottle of hydrocodone. With the instructions to take two every couple of hours to keep the worst of the discomfort at bay, adding that she was not to drive or operate heavy equipment while on it.

Even with the help of one of the male orderly's Chair still had a doozey of a time getting Charley back out to the truck as whatever they had given her for the pain took effect, and the usually level headed mechanic began to list and sway as if she had just finished a night of heavy drinking.

All the while alternately humming and singing slightly off key with the Elvis Presley song that had been playing softly over the speakers in the hospitals waiting room. until they had finally managed to usher her out the doors and into the passenger side of the waiting vehicle. Charley had then begun to nod off almost immediately as they headed out of the hospital parking lot.

Chair glanced over at Charley's slack face as she dozed against the cool glass of the trucks window before turning her attention back to the road as she rounded the corner of the street that would lead them to the last Chance.

"He likes you..You know." Charley's voice suddenly cut clearly through the silence causing Chair to startle and swerve slightly as she looked back over at the auburn haired mechanic.

"Who?" Chair asked with confusion as she glancing at Charley curiously out of the corner of her eye while still trying to watch the road in front of her.

"Modo." Charley said looking steadily back at Chair.

Chair eased her foot off the gas pedal the vehicle slowing as her heart gave a small flutter accompanied by a persistent ach at the mechanics words.

"I know." she finally answered softly without looking back at her.

"Well…You going to do anything about it?" Charley finally asked after an extended silence had stretched between them.

Chair pursed her lip at the question keeping her eyes aimed purposefully at the road ahead.

"You going to do anything about Vinnie?" Chair countered curtly in place of an answer.

Charley narrowed her eyes then snorted, "To Fucking shay" she grumbled dryly while turning to look back out the window at the passing scenery, surprising Chair with her out of character use of the harsh profanity.

Unable to stomach the dragging silence that filled the truck after her own snippy reply, Chair puffed out a breath and pulled the truck over to the curb letting it idle for a minute. Running her fingers through her hair and dislodging the last of the disheveled curls from what remained of the bun she'd attempted to secure them in at the start of the day. Chair tried to sort through the mess of her current thoughts before turning to face Charley once more.

I..I don't know ok …It's complicated … I'm afraid of screwing things up..and getting hurt or hell hurting him and …its just …damn it! I don't have a clear answer because I don't KNOW …Ok She said banging her hand on the steering wheel then throwing herself back in the seat and looking up at the ceiling in frustration.

Charley continued to stare at Chair in silence after her outburst a few more minutes, her own expression indecipherable.

"Yeah...I get it." Charley responded despondently after a moment her gaze shifting to the dirt covered floor of the cab.

"I get it." she repeated as Chair stared over at her.

Chair released another ragged breath guilt suddenly eating at her for snapping, at the younger women while she was injured and under the influence of whatever the hell they'd given her at the hospital.

Chair hesitantly reached over to pat Charley's arm gently in comfort, while racking her brain for a way to break through the strained tension that had sprung up between them after the awkward confrontation.

"Men." Chair finally interjected wryly in an attempt at humor. Watching as Charley slowly allowed the ghost of a smile to curl the edges of her lips in acknowledgment of Chair's attempt at a truce poor as it was.

"Mice" the younger women responded with a small roll of her eyes, as a moment of mutual understanding passed between them, over the situations they faced with the males in their lives.

With that particularly uncomfortable discussion behind them Chair pulled back out on to the road with the thought that the ins and outs of relationships were already hard enough to figure out … without the guys literally having to be from a different planet as well.


	10. ( Mice are from Mars and Earth girls aren't easy)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (W.W.T) Here my Dears, Ok this Chapter ended up being extremely lengthy even by my long winded standards (My bad). I was trying to tie in some more things to do with my own take an tweaks on Martian culture for later chapters, and it sort of got away from me.( I really love that stuff it's fun to write).  
> With that addressed, I sincerely hope you enjoy the next chapter of Mars needs mates.
> 
> Disclaimer: You know I know don't own save for Oc's and story concept. As I have previously stated I make no money from this and it is for fun and entertainment purposes only.

Chair slowly woke to the tickling sensation of something flicking against the tip of her nose. Reaching up groggily to batt at it as she cracked one sleep heavy eye open and tried to focus her bleary gaze enough to make out whatever it was, blinking in surprise when the tip of a furry tan tail finally came into view.

Chair craned her neck back enough to where she could just make out the shape of Throttles as he slept propped up in one of the recliners in Charley's den, his tail apparently having draped itself over the arm of the couch sometime while he slept.

Chair slowly sat up and stretched her arms over her head the sounds of the other two male's snores reaching her ears. It had been late enough when she had returned to the last chance that rather than have Modo run her home she had opted to camp out with everyone at the garage. Charley had mentioned having a guest bedroom but it was currently being used for storage So Chair had just bedded down with the mice in the living room.

Modo had insisted she take the couch and Chair had been too tired at that point to even make a token attempt at a protest, and had curled up without further ado asleep almost before her head hit the cushion. Chair paused as the sensation of fabric bunched around her legs registered and she looked down noting the blanket that someone had thoughtfully placed over her while she slept.

If she had to hazard a guess that someone was probably close to seven feet tall and sported soft grey fur. Chair reached out and ran her hand over the worn fabric as she looked over at where the male in question was sprawled a few feet away on the rug next to the couch.

Vinnie apparently having one out on the only other available seat in the den although now that she thought about it she didn't think he'd been in the room when she'd first laid down. But what with the stressful events of the evening coupled with the late hour, she had been rather out of it at that point even without suffering the added side effects of a shot of pain medication like Charley.

Chair grinned as she glanced over at the white furred male and recalled the look on his face when he'd pulled a still marginally loopy Charley out of the truck. Who apparently under the influence of the pain medicine lacked her usual inhibitors, and in a move very much like something Chair would have pulled herself. Had promptly reached up to fondle and play with his ears a moment, commenting that she liked how soft and silky they were before dropping her hands back down and snuggling up against him to fall back asleep.

She didn't know who's expression had been funnier Modo and Throttle who looked like they were going to have aneurisms trying not to laugh at the white furred male. Or Vinnie himself who's eyes had appeared to be in danger of completely bugging out of his head as he stared down at the drowsing mechanic in shock. Chair had just barely managed to choke down her own laughter and explain about the pain shot.

A smile still on her face at the memory Chair stood up and moved over to stand next to were Modo sprawled on the rug asleep .The sound of the snores punctured by the occasional snort escaping from his sleep slackened jaw causing her to suppress a laugh as she made her way the few feet across the room.

Chair paused briefly to study a stray beam of sunshine that had snuck through a chink in the blinds and currently danced across his sleeping features before she bent to drape the covering still clutched in her hands over him.

Suppressing a small yawn as she absently reached out to gently smooth a small tuft of fur back down on his cheek before she straightened back up again and turned to head out of the room in the direction of the kitchen.

At the sound of Chair's fading footsteps Modo opened his eye and carefully shifting so he could watch her retreating form as she left the room. The sound of a soft chuckle drawing his attention over too Throttle as he sat regarding him.

" You know Bro…for a mouse you do a pretty darn good impression of a possum." He said with another chuckle his voice slightly rough from sleep.

Modo rubbed awkwardly at the back of his neck at being caught out by the Tan furred male, but Throttle merely gave the ghost of a smile and closed his eyes once more as he leaned back to catch a few more minutes rest before the others began to stir.

Satisfied that was the extent of the comments from the Martian leader on the matter, Modo turned back to face the door hesitating a second longer his tail flicking in thought before he climbed to his feet and followed after Chair.

Modo entered the kitchen just in time to watch Chair hop backwards up onto the counter before turning to reach for one of the coffee cups tucked up in the cabinet, the sight causing him to pause as he watched her in amusement.

Modo gave a small cough more to alert her to his presence than to clear his throat as he moved forward and caught her around the waist to lower her to the floor before she could jump back down on her own.

Chair blinked more surprised to see the stone furred Martian up an about than she was at the action. Honestly if she'd known he was awake she would have been more surprised if he didn't try to help her down from the counter, although if he had been in the room a minute or two sooner she probably wouldn't have even had a chance to climb up on the counter to reach the cup in the first place.

Chair honestly didn't like to bother people over her occasional difficulties reaching items and the like due to her height …especially when with just a little extra effort she could usually manage for herself…but Modo seemed to have developed a way of anticipating when she was going to try to climb or balance on random objects in order to reach things she needed and had started stepping in to help more and more often.

It was at times both equally endearing and vexing to find the big male hovering nearby so much… but Chair had to admit she was starting to get used to it, and with her current emotional dilemma she wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

"Morning." Modo said grinning as he set her on the floor. Watching as she wrinkled her nose at him her expression one of wry exasperation. Chair couldn't stop the laugh that escaped her as Modo smiled down at her and simply shrugged unabashedly in the face of her minor annoyance with him.

" I've said it before your lucky your cute you know." Chair said her lips curling up at the edges as she taped him gently on the chest with the empty mug, before making her way over to the coffee pot to fix a batch.

Chair had just pressed the start button on the electric coffee pot after finishing setting it up when she spotted the large bowl of fruit Charley had sitting out on the counter with a handful of apples mixed in it. Unable to resist the temptation of her favorite food in such easy reach, especially with her empty stomach making complaints and gurgles at the sight. Chair reached out to snag one of the apples out of it and headed over to the sink to rinse it. Before locating a paring knife and taking down a small plate to start dicing it while the pot filled.

A loud sputtering and the pleasing scent of fresh coffee filling the air alerted her as the brewer finished dispelling the last of the caffeinated liquid. Chair glanced in the direction of the now full pot as she placed the knife in the sink.

Before grabbing her plate of fruit and making her way back over to the coffee to pour a cup. Then turned to carrying it and the plate of Apple slices over next to where Modo was leaning against the counter. She had just lifted up one of the slices to take a bite when she caught Modo watching her curiously out of the corner of his eye.

Chair paused with the slice midway to her lips as it suddenly occurred to her that with the exception of hotdogs and the like, she really hadn't seen the Martian male eat a very wide variety of food since she'd known him.

"Modo... Have you ever tried an apple?" Chair asked curiously looking up at him. Modo scrunched his nose briefly in thought at the question then shook his head "No" he answered "can't say I have."

Chair absorbed this for a moment then leaned forward startling him by holding the slice of fruit towards his mouth. "Here," she offered looking up at him expectantly.

Modo froze for a second as the smell of the fruit filled his nostrils tart and sweet (her smell) he thought vaguely recognizing the elusive scent that often clung to her that he had previously been unable to place.

Not really sure of the unknown food but not wanting to risk offending her by refusing when it was something she obviously enjoyed. Modo cautiously opened his mouth wide enough for her to pop the slice into it, allowing the piece to rest on his tongue a moment without chewing as he took in the taste.

The flavor reminded him slightly of the uncooked Muta his mother would sometimes encourage him and his sister to try a few bites of from time, to time while insisting it was good for their digestion. Although considering how much time he'd spent in the latrine afterwards the following results had been anything but good to his mind.

Modo realized He must have made an odd face at the unpleasant memory because Chair cocked her head to the side in concern as she watched him.

"Modo? …You ok?" She asked reaching tentatively towards him as if to place her hand on his jaw.

Modo panicked afraid of hurting her feelings if he outright rejected the piece of her favorite food she had given him, and quickly attempted to just swallow the slice whole only to have it lodge halfway down.

Chair jumped in surprise as Modo's eye suddenly bulged and he hunched down in obvious distress his body tensing as he struggled unsuccessfully to dislodge the piece of fruit.

" Oh my Gad!" She cried trying to get her hand around to pat him on the back. Realizing almost immediately that she was too short to reach properly Chair quickly hauled herself back onto the counter scrapping her leg against one of the drawer handles and knocking her still steaming coffee cup over in the process. The sound of tinkling glass and the heat of the coffee just registering as she scrambled up behind him to pound between his shoulder blades.

"shit!..ok.. Ok.. Hold on!" She hissed out in a rush, all of her focus centering on Modo as she continued to thump soundly against his broad back.

Chair had just started to feel the edges of panic creeping in and was about to call out for help when Modo finally managed to force the piece of fruit down the rest of the way. Chairs hands dropped limply down to rest on the counter top relief washing over her as he gagged then began to hack forcefully.

The steady trickling sound of the spilled coffee pouring off the counter in a broken stream competed with the buzzing rush of her pulse in her ears, and the harsh sounds of her and Modo's breathing as they both attempted to catch their breath.

Huffing heavily from the effort of dislodging the rogue piece of apple Modo rubbed at his chest in an attempt to help ease the sensation of still having a knot lodged in it, and Coughed forcefully a few more times to help clear his throat. Before he turned to face a somewhat shell-shocked Chair as she sat looking at him wide eyed her own breaths ragged.

" You… know." she finally panted as they regarded each other." If you don't… like something… its ok to spit it back.. out." Chair added on a wheeze. Modo slowly blinked as he took in the sight of Chair perched on the edge of the counter her leg bleeding from an angry looking line and hot coffee soaking into the shorts she was wearing.

His mouth twisting into a frown even as he continued to heave in breathes Modo reached out, his hands spanning her waist as he lifted her out of the hot liquid. " I'll…keep that in mind." he said his voice rasping thickly as he set her down his hands lingering a moment as he stared down at her trying to assess whether or not she was seriously hurt in anyway even as he struggled to regain his own composer from nearly choking.

Chair barked out a small laugh at his response as she stared up at him the sound at odds with the strained look on her face.

"Geeze.. give a girl a heart attack why don't ya…"Chair sighed Shakely leaning forward before he could pull back or step away so that her forehead rested against the bottom half of his chest.

"Please don't ever do that again. The only way I could even think to try to do the Heimlich on someone your size, would be to stand on your stomach and use you like a trampoline." Chair said reaching out and wrapping one arm around him in a loose embrace, as she turned letting her cheek press against his chest the reassuring feel of his heartbeat helping to steady her own.

The after effects of adrenaline mixed with relief hit Chair hard. The rush of endorphins making her feel almost giddy. which caused the whole situation to suddenly strike her as funny despite the seriousness of only moments before.

Modo stared down at the top of Chairs head in concern torn on what to do as she pressed against him and began to giggle then laugh uncontrollably, the force of her laughter increasing until she was almost shaking with it before she finally tapered off into a coughing fit. Gasping in a few weak breaths as she glanced back up at him, a grin curling the edges of her mouth as her gaze locked with his.

"You know… I honestly think I might just have to give up coffee for you." Chair said her tone serious but her eyes gleaming with humor.

Modo stared down at her in obvious confusion as he absorbed this. "What?" He finally responded starring at her his eye widening further in concern. Chair chuckled and reached up to pat his cheek affectionately at his bewildered expression.

"Well… so far since I met you, whenever I have a cup somebody ends up choking, and I end up scalding some rather sensitive parts of myself." Chair finished dryly lowering her arm and twisting slightly to display the coffee stained back of her shorts.

Modo followed Chairs trail of sight, then realized where exactly he was looking and immediately shifted his gaze to the floor clearing his throat, A Frown suddenly twisting the corners of his mouth back down as he noticed the thin gash still trickling blood down her leg.

Modo glanced around until he spotted the clean drying cloth Charley always had on hand, grabbing it then bending down to dab the cloth against Chair's leg as he tried to see how deep it actually was.

Chair experienced a twinge of surprise as Modo let out an audible chuff of air his teeth clicking together lightly as he grabbed a hand towel off the counter, and knelt down to start gently blotting at the cut on her leg his expression intent. She started to say something but her minor protest died on her lips as her heart gave an odd flip at the look on his face while he examined the mild injury.

Chair reached out with the vague intention of drawing his attention away from what she was certain was only a minor scratch. But her hand seemed to take on a mind of its own as she caught the glint of metal out of the corner of her eye, and instead moved it up to lightly touch one of the gold hoops dangling from his ear. Her fingertips brushing against the cool metal of the one closest to his cheek enough to partially angle it towards her while she studied it.

Modo froze with the cloth pressed against her leg his breath catching as he shifted his gaze back up to meet hers, and Chair found herself Unable to look away as he stared at her an unnamed emotion passing so fleetingly across his face it was gone before she could fully register it..

The moment continued to stretch between them as Modo watched her as if… he was waiting for something from her … his manner reminiscent of the day she'd kissed his cheek in the stairwell, and despite her personal resolve to only think of herself and him as friends.

Chair found her gaze slowly sliding down to rest on Modo's mouth. The question of whether or not with the difference in the shapes of their jaws if the mice still kissed the same as humans … or if they even kissed at all for that matter passing through her mind as she stared at it.

As if he could sense the direction her thoughts had taken Modo tensed, his breath briefly stilling before an almost imperceptible sound slipped from him as he became aware of where her eyes were focused.

The small whisp of noise snapped Chair from her dazed musings. Suddenly Unsure of her own thoughts and actions Chair went to pull her hand back from where it still hovered just under the grey Martians ear Startling as Modo's tail curled around her wrist halting her retreat .

She starred down at it in surprise distantly marveling at how dexterous it actually was before lifting her eyes up to meet his again. The soft fur of his tail tickling her skin as he slowly tightened it around her wrist while they regarded each other.

Modo's expression shifted to serious as he opened his mouth to speak but he never got the chance, as a loud thump from the direction of the living room reached their ears. Followed closely by Vinnie's aggravated and groggy voice. "Ouaff!.. Alright..Who the Heck left a blanket in the middle of the floor!?"

Chair blinked feeling a bit like she was waking from a trance, as the surreal moment between them broke and realty came rushing back in around her. Chair felt a flush warming her cheeks as she gave her arm a gentle tug to remove it from the grey furred males grip.

Modo seemed hesitant to let go but eventually conceded loosening his hold allowing His tail to slowly unwind from around Chairs wrist. As she quickly stepped back and made her way around his still kneeling form with a mumbled excuse rapidly heading back out the door towards the den.

(Friends! we're friends and trying for anything else would just muck it up!) Chair thought adamantly as she fled the room. Maybe if she kept saying/thinking it enough she'd actually remember it and start doing a better job of keeping her hands to herself for a change.

Modo slowly rose from his crouched position standing motionless in the middle of the room his expression thoughtful as he stared down at the cloth in his hand a minute. His gaze shifting towards the door and his fingers closing around it briefly, before he moved to start cleaning up the mess from the spilt coffee and the abandoned plate of apple slices.

The next few days were a whirlwind of activity as Chair tried to help around the garage any way she could cooking meals sorting inventory and rescheduling clients left and right. While the mice themselves attempted to keep up with a recovering Charley.

A task that was proving easier said than done as the wilily mechanic had recently taken to sneaking into the garage at night to work on the multitude of things she insisted were piling up during her absence, Prompting the males who were already rotating so that one of them stayed behind to keep an eye on her during the day. To start taking turns sleeping at the foot of the stairs leading to Charley's room to prevent anymore late night escapades.

Chair had just finished placing a new shipment of parts up on a shelf in the back of the garage when the sound of Charley's voice reached her.

"I can't take this anymore!"

"I can't even go pee without finding one of you three hovering over me." Charley Growled as she made her way painstakingly into the garage followed closely by a rather harried looking Throttle, his expression a cross between exasperated annoyance and admiration as he kept pace with the headstrong mechanic.

"At least let me install the last part for Chair's truck.. I know it was supposed to come in sometime today ..and I saw the delivery van."

" No can do babe. You're supposed to be taking it easy around here for the next few weeks Doctors orders." Throttle said attempting to head her off before she could make it to the other side of the garage, finally managing to halt her progress by stepping in front of her and placing his hands on her shoulders.

"Throttle if you know what's good for you, you'll move that furry behind of yours..out of my way! Before I give in to the desire to plant my foot in the vicinity of your tail". Charley bit out while glaring up at the Martian leader.

"Sorry Charley-girl." Throttle replied with a chuckle using said tail to hoist her up into his arms like a parent collecting a wayward toddler. The image only further cemented by the petulant tone that suddenly filled Charley's voice .When she protested the treatment as he headed back across room at a rapid clip.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing you..you … big hair brained lummox!...I swear Throttle If you don't put me down… this instant!" Charley trailed off with another frustrated growl.

" Ouch!" Throttle suddenly cried out stopping momentarily to glare down in annoyance at the female in his grip before starting across the room again.

"Come on Charley fur( pulling ..what are you five-eE-Ye-ouch!" Chair couldn't help the laugh that escaped as Throttles pained cry floated back through the doors as he disappeared back into the garages living quarters with the aggravated mechanic in tow.

Chair chuckled again as she made her way back over to the desk. While she sympathized with Charley over her accurate portrayal of the three males over protective streaks. She certainly didn't envy any of them their self-appointed task of trying to keep up with the determined redhead either.

Chair looked up from where she had been rummaging through a couple invoices, as the sounds of Vinnie and Modo's bikes reached her a split second before they rode into the garage. Back from their latest patrol of the area's being affected by the string of arsines cases.

"Hey Doll! How are things holding down the fort?" Vinnie called over to Chair while removing his helmet and stepping off his bike.

"Oh you know." Chair started right as a loud clang followed by Charley's irate sounding voice could be heard from the other room. "The usual" she finished wryly as the white mouse's ears dipped back an impressed and mildly horrified look passing across his face at the noises emitting from the other room.

Modo released a long whistle as he stepped up beside him. "Sounds like Charley-girls in rare form today." He added a touch of aw coating his own voice as they all stared in the direction of the open doors leading into the garages living quarters.

Charley's Voice slowly rose in pitch punctured every now and then by Throttles placed tone as he attempted to sooth the irate mechanic. A masculine yelp suddenly rang out as another series of clangs and pings could be heard right before the Tan furred male came sprinting back into the garage.

"Evasive maneuver thirty seven Bro's!" he said as he spotted them and shifted direction.

" But that's for use in situations involving nuclear fusion weapons?" Modo said as Throttle ducked beside the desk.

" I would recommend it." Throttle replied grimly as he glanced back towards the doors as if he expected the injured mechanic to come flying through them at any second. "Vinnie…yo." Throttle started only to be cut off mid word by the white furred male.

" No way!..You agreed to the switch today."

"Besides If you'd heard even half the things she threatened to do to me this morning with rusty kitchen scissors and rubbing alcohol you wouldn't even think of asking!" Vinnie interjected while holding his hands up as if toward off the tan males request.

" If Norman Bates got with Dexter for a day to hash out their kinkiest fantasies the two of them together still couldn't even come close to half the fifty shades of saw that female somehow managed to think of in a twenty minute period." he finished with a visible shudder.

"Modo?" Throttle said hopefully turning towards the grey male." Sorry Bro I've got night watch this evening." Modo replied shaking his head.

" Oh for Pete's sake she's just getting a little stir crazy because you guys won't let her do more than wiggle her pinky …." Chair said rolling her eyes at the male's antics.

"We're just trying to make sure she doesn't push herself to hard and overdo it is all… and in spite of her insistence otherwise we haven't actually been following her everywhere she goes. Throttle said as he stood and leaned his hip against the desk.

"Oh? Sooo… Charley didn't.. find one of you standing outside of the bathroom, when she took her shower yesterday?" Chair asked wryly, raising one eyebrow and glancing around at the group. Throttle shot an exasperated look in Vinnie's direction at this.

"Hey! It wasn't me." Vinnie said indignantly. "Well I know it wasn't me..so that just leaves…" Throttle started then trailed off turning along with the other two to stare at Modo in surprise as he flushed slightly.

" I was worried she might slip." he mumbled reaching up to rub awkwardly at the back of his neck. Chair snorted rather inelegantly and bit down on her bottom lip as she fought not to laugh. While she stared up at him her lips twitching with the effort, as she made a very poor attempt to smoother it. Before she finally gave in and began to openly laugh at the large male's rather obvious embarrassment at being caught.

" It could have happened." Modo insisted as he narrowed his gaze at her a playful spark entering his eye as he stared at her. Chair froze mid laugh her mouth dropping open in blatant surprise as Modo's tail suddenly swung up to tweak the end of her nose.

" D-did..you seriously just flick me… on the nose?" Chair said in bewildered shock as she glanced over at the grey furred Martian. Who merely shrugged his mouth twisting into an unrepentant grin as both Throttle and Vinnie chuckled at her under their breath.

Chair snapped her mouth closed at this narrowing her eyes at each of them in scathing annoyance before she reached up to try and flick the grey Martian back on the nose with her fingers. Only to fall short (literally) as she lost her balance and fell forward to bop her nose painfully against Modo's chest, reaching up to cup it with a muffled "ow!" That prompted all three males to laugh, as she crossed her arms and huffed indignantly at them.

" If it weren't for the fact that I know Charley would skin me if I turned you three loose in her kitchen. I'd make you guys fix your own lunch for that." Chair said sourly as she turned to stalk across the room with the mice still snickering behind her.

"Unless you're wanting your portion of the dog's burnt extra crispy today, I'd go try and make amends if I were you Bro" Throttle said glancing over at Modo with a chuckle blinking in surprise as he realized the other male was already halfway across the room as he followed after the blond female.

"Don't look now Bro but I think Casanova's finally getting ready to make some moves." Vinnie commented wryly as Modo disappeared through the doors leading out of the main part of the garage. "Bought damn time to, Guys slower than molasses when it comes to this stuff." he added with a grin. "Pot meet kettle." Throttle muttered under his breath with a small eye roll.

"You say something Bro?" Vinnie asked curiously glancing in the tan furred male's direction. "Just agreeing with you." Throttle replied with a shrug turning to stare at the now empty doorway with a small grin.

Chair pulled the hotdogs out of the fridge and briefly toyed with idea of surprising the guys with a large veggie dish along the lines of salad, or something equally likely to cause the heavy carb and protein munching males' jaws to drop in shocked horror.

She went about opening the six family sized packages of generic hotdogs, chuckling at the mental images her salad musings conjured up. Even as she disregarded the notion on the grounds of cruel and unusual punishment …plus they didn't have any of the fixings on hand for her to put one together anyway.

Chair paused as she saw Modo entering the kitchen the large male halting briefly in the doorway before making his way over to her. " Need any help" he asked amiably. Chair tried to shoot a stern look at him but found she couldn't maintain it as he stared down at her his expression contrite and his ears drooping sadly in that almost puppyish way of his.

(Oh that's so not fare expressions like that should be illegal… I mean really just how is a girl supposed to resist that look) Chair thought irritably to herself as she glanced down at the open package in her hands before giving a small shrug.

" I guess I could use some help setting up the griddle." Chair said carful to keep her gaze angled away so she wouldn't be tempted to cave more at the sight of his puppy dog eyes.

Modo beamed at her as if she'd offered him a gift. Instead of a menial task and set off getting the cooking surface set up. Chair finished opening the rest of packages as she watched the large male out of the corner of her eye. Scrunching her nose up at herself in annoyance when she realized she was never actually going to be able to stay mad at him, especially when he kept making that damn face.

Grabbing one of the open packages Chair made her way over to stand beside the grey male as he fiddled with the griddle, giving him a small nudge with her hip to let him know to make room for her to stand next to him at the counter. To her surprise Modo resisted a moment, Causing Chair to dart a small glare in his direction aware there was very little chance of her actually moving him on her own if he didn't let her.

Modo grinned down at her mischievously a second before obligingly shifting a bit to the side just enough to almost but not quite make, enough room for her to move up beside him. Chair felt an answering spark of playfulness ramp up inside of her at the small challenge and decided to throw down her own gauntlet wracking her brain for a response.

Chair lifted her leg up as an idea suddenly occurred to her, and quickly planted her knee firmly into the back of his in a move he'd taught her to knock an opponent off balance. Then altered it by almost simultaneously shifting to lean her full weight against his side, the move much to her surprise actually succeeding in causing him to stumble a half inch or so.

Modo stared down at her in shocked disbelief his mouth dropping slightly as she grinned up at him in unexpected triumph. Chair found her victory short lived however as Modo's slack mouth suddenly twisted up into a lopsided grin similar to the ones he and the other mice got right before a bought of wrestling began, an oddly predatory glint entering his eye that had her rethinking her previous actions.

" Uh…"Chair started nervously her words transforming into a squeal as Modo's tail suddenly shot up to ruffle through her hair, causing the array of bobby pins she had securing it to scatter across the kitchen floor as it cascaded down in a wild mess.

A stunned silence briefly over taking her Chair shifted so that she was staring up at Modo through the loose curtain of her curls as they flopped around her face in disarray breathing heavily as she regarded him in startled shock.

"You did not…. I can't believe… I mean yo-you …YOU!" She finished on a growl her eyes narrowing into a glare as she gripped the package of hotdogs a split second before she flung them at him.

" Hey now." Modo said snagging them out of the air with a laugh." Don't go wasting the eats over a little horse …er... mouse play." he added grinning down at her.

"The Eats!?"

" Who cares about the eats!" Chair said her hands flying to her hips. "You just gave me a damn Noogie with your tail!" She said with irritation.

"What's a noogie?" Modo asked placing the package to the side.

" Bend down and I'll demonstrate with those antennas of yours." Chair answered darkly as she continued to glare up at him.

Modo flinched slightly at the image this conjured up "ah…I think I'll pass on that one." he replied wrinkling his nose at her.

Chair snorted the corners of her lips twitching slightly as she stared up at the stone furred male, amused despite her aggravation with him.

Modo caught his breath at the sight of Chair glaring up at him eyes sparking in temper, her hair spilling in a mussed waterfall of gold spirals and her lips pursed together in a tight line. The Martian behemoth's shoulders knotting uncomfortably as he tried to tamp down the urge that hit him to kiss the scowl off her face. Realizing that a move like that probably wouldn't receive the reaction he was hoping for at this point, and attempted to be content with simply nuzzling the top of her head instead.

Chairs eyes widened in surprise as Modo suddenly circled her waist with his tail tugging her towards him and lifting her up slightly as he bent to rub his cheek across her head affectionately.

" Modo!?...what are you doing?" Chair asked the words coming out in a breathless croak as he gently settled her back on her feet.

Modo stared at her a moment before smiling crookedly as he shrugged one shoulder. "Your shorter than Charley.. so it's harder for me to reach you." he replied enigmatically as if that somehow answered everything.

"Uh..no that's not what..."Chair started only to stop as Vinnies shout of Hey what's taking so long with the grub echoed through the room. Modo's eye briefly closed in irritation at the interruption "That's the second time.. Vin… I swear I'm gonna tie your antennas in a knot" he muttered under his breath.

Chair experienced a sudden attack of nerves as he opened his eye once more to stare into hers. The large male's whole demeanor seeming to change as his expression shifted from mildly aggravated to pensive.

Chair felt her breathing pick up even as she noticed Modo's do the same as they regarded one another silently, the air between them taking on an almost electric charge as his tail unwound from its current position around her waist to drop down, and brush lightly against the back of her bare legs in a whisper soft caress.

"Chair I…" he started only to halt as She rushed to cut him off.

"Tell you what why don't we finish this conversation some other time!"

"You go ahead and head back out with the guys and see if you can stave off that bottomless pit we call Vinnie for a few more minutes and I'll finish up here." Chair said smiling to take the sting out of the fact she was more or less kicking him out of the kitchen.

"Besides I think I'm more likely to actually get lunch done with you OUT of my hair." she added wryly as she reached up to push a handful of loose curls back from her face.

Modo wanted to protest at the abrupt brush off but somehow managed to swallow it back down. "Alright." he replied with forced cheerfulness. While reluctantly removing his tail from where it had briefly wrapped around Chairs ankle. Using it to scoop up a few of the pins from the floor, and lifting them up to offer to her.

Chair accepted them with a rueful smile bending slightly to begin attempting to re-tame her locks, as Modo watched her for a second his expression inscrutable before he turned wordlessly to head back out of the kitchen.

Sensing as he moved away Chair glanced up to watch him leave the smile slowly melting from her face as she watched his retreating form disappear through the door, fully aware of the underlying tension that now stretched between them, despite the playful atmosphere that had existed only moments before. It hurt her to watch him leave, but she just didn't feel she was ready to face that particular talk yet, not with the slew of doubts and questions still churning away inside of her at that moment in time.

" I really need to talk to Charley." she finally whispered out loud to herself. With the thought that opening up to the mechanic would at least give her someone else in a similar situation to talk to, and who might actually be able to answer a handful of the questions currently plaguing Chair as well.

Chair turned and blithely began setting hotdogs onto the surface of the griddle. The mundane task of cooking giving her something else to try an occupy her thoughts with, besides the shifting dynamics of her and Modo's friendship.

Chair finished placing the last of the hotdogs down and stood silently a moment starring down at the sizzling surface without actually seeing it. As her thoughts refused to be silenced, and instead chased themselves in ever tightening circles, until she felt almost sick from them.

Chair realized that continuing to refer to herself and Modo as just friends wasn't really going to do much to hold off the turmoil of her current emotions. Because despite her fears about turning what they already had into an intimate relationship, and her avoidance just now of the conversation she had a feeling was coming. Chair couldn't seem to help herself when she was around him.

It didn't help matters that He was the first person she saw in the morning, and the last in the evening either, and even with that time together Chair found she missed him during the course of the day when they we're both busy.

But when they were together He was constantly doing or saying things that had her slipping a little more over that indefinable edge each day. Hell just the thought of him alone had her feeling all warm and fuzzy inside. Chair new herself well enough to realize that last bit probably meant she was in way more trouble than she had originally thought.

She had also caught Modo staring at her a few times recently in a way that she didn't feel was strictly in the friend sense any longer either.

Which she had mixed feelings about as well, on the one hand she liked the thought that he possibly found her physically attractive. But on the other, she was afraid that it wasn't really her he was attracted to so much, as she was just the only other female besides Charley available to him, and she wondered if presented with the option of another women or a female mouse, if he'd still feel the same way about her.

Either way Chair realized that ready or not she now stood at a crossroad. The only thing that really remained was whether or not she was willing to risk what they had together by moving forward, or possibly damaging it by trying to ignore what was building between them.

Chair ran a hand forcefully through her already disheveled hair in agitation at herself for re-having what amounted to nearly the same damn mental conversation a second time around. Over whether or not her and Modo should just remain friends or not, and wondered when the heck everything in her life had gotten so complicated.

Chair directed a snort of derision internally at that particularly gross understatement because saying things in this situation were complicated was definitely putting it mildly.

When faced with the realty that she was more or less falling for her best friend, who happened to be a giant talking Motorcycle riding Mouse from outer space with psychic powers. Chair had the niggling impression that someone upstairs was having a really good laugh at her expense.

To top it off she couldn't seem to keep her hands off of him either. Practically molesting his tail at their first meeting then nearly rubbing his face in her cleavage, Followed by the thing with the taboo touching of his antenna and the whole straddling his junk incident …Chair reached up to rub a hand over her eyes as she recalled the events in question. (When the Hell did my life transform into a friggen romantic comedy spoof of the twilight zone) Chair thought irritably fighting against the urge to blush at the memories.

The smell of burning meat suddenly pulled Chair from her inner musings "Shit!" she swore adamantly as she scrambled to save what was left of the dogs from their fiery fate. Managing to rescue the majority but somehow burning her hand in the process of pulling the last one off the hot griddle

"Crap!..Can't I do anything without injuring myself?" Chair hissed sharply as she pulled her stinging digits up for inspection, flinching at the blistered and angry red mark that spanned the side of her wrist leading up to the tip of her pinky.

"I'm a walking disaster." Chair mumbled self-depreciatively as she tried not to cry in pure frustration at the whole mess emotional and otherwise. Chair quickly walked across the room to place her hand under the tap a moment, allowing the cooling stream of water to help ease the worst of the stinging pain. Before she wrapped it loosely in a clean dishtowel, and went about trying to finish the last of the prep for lunch one handed.

Chair was just starting the slow process of trying to set the table, when Charley hobbled in pausing as she took in the sight of a rather frazzled looking Chair. A cheery flower printed terry cloth wrapped loosely around one hand and only about half of her hair pinned up, the bigger portion appearing to have escaped to hamper her by falling directly into her eyes. A large tray of hotdogs balanced precariously against her hip. While she attempted to maneuver it one handed completed the odd sight, as she tried to avoid the pain of using her injured limb.

"Need some help?" Charley asked raising one eyebrow curiously as she took note of everything including the rag currently wrapped around Chairs right hand.

Despite her present difficulties Chair shot Charley an amused look at the offer, as the mechanic began painstakingly limping her way across the room, with all the grace and speed of an eighty year old.

"What? And risk the wrath of your three fury protectors? I think not." Chair replied her expression and tone teasing even as she struggled to maneuver the cumbersome tray, finally managing to set it onto the kitchen table with a little extra heave from her hip.

Charley snorted at the comment as she watched Chair push the tray one handed into the center of the table . "Don't tell me you're going to start treating me like I'm glass to." Charley muttered irritably as she made her way over to sit down, as Chair began setting the table.

"Chair?" Charley said quizzically after a moment as she watched the blond haired women continue to place the utensils and other items down one handed.

"Yes?" Chair responded distractedly, glancing over at her.

"Why is your hand wrapped in my dish towel?" Charley asked in amusement.

"Oh err…I burnt it." Chair answered looking down at it almost in surprise as if she'd forgotten.

"Oh well.. is that all...I swear…And they follow me around like I need to be in a bubble." Charley mumbled dryly reaching up to rub the bridge of her nose. "How bad is it?" she asked a concerned frown twisting down the edges of her mouth.

"I'm not sure..It hurts but I don't really think it's too bad I just sort of borrowed the towel to wrap it in for the moment." Chair replied briefly looking down at her injured limb then back at the auburn haired mechanic.

"You do realize I have a first aid kit right?" Charley asked with an exasperated glance at the bright flower printed cloth wrapped around Chair's hand.

"Yes..I know sorry.. its just..I really need to talk to you." Chair said mildly embarrassed but suddenly realizing that this was a chance for her to finally speak with Charley alone.

"So you burnt your hand and wrapped it in a towel?" Charley replied in bewilderment. " seems a bit extreme don't you think?"

"No that's not what I…"Chair suddenly trailed off as she took in the laughter dancing in Charley's eyes and realized the younger women was just messing with her.

"You brat…I've half a mind to let Vinnie or one of the others know ,you've been sneaking parts for that new stealth system, you've been developing up to your room to work on when they're not looking." Chair said glowering over at her in annoyance.

"Oh yeah? well how about I just call out that you've injured yourself again, and we see how fast it takes a certain grey individual to haul his tail in here to cart you off to play doctor." Charley responded wryly her lips turning up into a smug grin as Chair scrunched her nose at her in irritation.

"You wouldn't dare." Chair said narrowing her gaze at the auburn haired mechanic.

"Oh?...Wouldn't I?" Charley responded quirking one eye brow up and grinning toothily before turning her head to call over her shoulder " Oh Mo.."

"Wait!" Chair interjected a flash of mild panic crossing her face. "I really do need to talk to you in private for just a moment..please!" Chair rushed out.

Charley paused then turned back to face her curiously "Alright..but if I were you I'd hurry the guys aren't going to hold off much longer on filing in here, especially with food on the table… I'm honestly surprised they haven't made their way in here already."

"I'm not really sure it's the kind of conversation you rush…"Chair started then trailed off her expression suddenly strained as she used her uninjured hand to push back a handful of loose curls and tuck them behind one ear.

"But… I'm not sure now that I have you alone for a moment, that I can bring myself to wait to have it ether." she finished with a sigh turning to stare back at Charley, whose eyes widened at the implications as she regarded her.

"Oh..uh I think you better take a seat." Charley said gesturing to the one next to her.

"Pull up a chair..Chair." Charley added her lips quirking up at her attempt at humor.

Chair slanted a dower look in her direction even as she took the proffered seat. "Hardee har har like I haven't heard that one before." Chair responded dryly.

Charley hunched her shoulders sheepishly "Sorry relationship talks without the benefit of morphine make me uncomfortable." Charley mumbled contritely.

"I'm not sure this falls strictly into the realm of a relationship talk per say but...I do have some questions about certain things I'd like to run by you." Chair said setting her elbow on the table and leaning forward to rest her head against the palm of her hand as she studied the scuffed surface.

"OK?..Shoot." Charley said after a brief moment of silence had stretched between them.

Chair took a steadying breath then heaved it out on a sighed puff of air, before she turned once more to look the younger women in the eye.

"Alright…I might ..mind you MIGHT be entertaining the idea.. of there possibly being more between myself and ..a certain someone… That you mentioned before…likes me. Because… I think I like him that way to and… Hell I suck at phrasing this stuff; that sounds like something from a middle school based movie drama…" Chair muttered scrubbing her uninjured hand across her face in agitation.

Charley snorted then bite down on her lip to keep from actually laughing. "Not that I have a lot of experience with these particular types of conversations but are you sure.. this isn't a relationship talk? An I'll take your word on the whole movie thing. Because personally I can't even make it through the commercials for those things …I don't need to start clapping my hands in preparation for a musical number here do I?" Charley said in an attempt to lighten the moment and ease some of the tension almost rolling off Chair in waves.

"Oh shut up I'm making an effort here" Chair replied wryly sticking her tongue out and glaring over at the auburn haired mechanic with mock irritation. "…there's just a few things I'd like to know a little more about.. Before I decide how I want to proceed is all." She added relaxing a bit as the lighthearted teasing succeeded in helping to ease the knotted ball of nerves, which currently sat in her guts like a lead weight.

Charley lifted her hands in supplication while giving Chair a crooked grin "Ok, ok I'll behave. What do you need to know?" she said suppressing a chuckle.

"Ok first things first I guess…What's with the tail touching and cheek rubbing?" Chair asked leaning back in her seat as she faced the auburn haired mechanic.

"Err… the What now?" Charley said wrinkling her forehead in confusion.

"You know..The … grabby thing they do with their tails and the brushing or rubbing cheek thing they do..I geeze I don't know how else to put it." Chair said waving her right hand vaguely up in the air and flinching as a sharp pain reminded her of her injury. "Ow". She mumbled irritably as Charley continued to stare at her like she'd flipped her gourd.

"Cheek rubbing and grabby tai?...oh that!" Charley replied her eyes widening in sudden comprehension.

"Oh.. that What?" Chair asked suddenly nervous.

"Its well..as far as I know its mostly just a cultural thing…"Charley said with a small shrug.

"So ..I've been making a big to do over the Martian equivalent of a handshake?" Chair asked despondently oddly disappointed at the thought.

"Well…no its not exactly like that." Charley answered

"Well? What is it exactly like then?!" Chair said in exasperation.

Charley snorted out a laugh at the put out expression that appeared on Chair's face "ok..ok take a breath." she said leaning forward slightly to pat the irritated dancers knee.

"Since Throttle shared part of their history with you via mind walking. You're already aware they have certain ability's and senses besides our standard five. The tail touching just sort of ties in with their telepathy. Their empathic to a certain extent but a good portion of what they pick up is through touching directly…so they usually use their tails or do something along those lines as a more casual way to accomplish this."

"Wait! So..their reading our Minds?!" Chair interrupted her expression suddenly distressed.

"No..well at least not in the sense your thinking at least. Its emotion based mostly to my understanding unless they use their antennas the things they convey and pick up are fairly muted" Charley replied.

"Do they just do it with anybody around them?" Chair asked relief easing some of the tension from her at the reassurance that Modo did not in fact know her every thought.

"Well.. no." Charley answered again

"This explanation of yours has a lot of wells." Chair muttered irritably as she fiddled with a broken off piece of hotdog bun that had fallen on the table.

"You wanna hear it or not." Charley asked dryly narrowing her eyes back at her.

"Sorry ..tell on Obi-mouse-Kenobi." Chair responded deadpan giving a stiff half bow and gesturing imperiously for her to continue.

Charley shot her an annoyed look and rolled her eyes at this but continued "No they don't just run around touching everyone they encounter. Their an empathic species and read certain things through touch, so by the same token its considered rude to just touch or grab someone like that without reason… in fact with the exception of very close friends and family they don't usually do it."

" There's a bit more to it then what I'm getting across here and this is definitely overly simplified but… the mice used to belong to groups or clans on mars and since their telepathic and empathic ,the touching was just a normal part of their social structure."

"Especially in the smaller ones which mostly consisted of direct family members. Parents, siblings ,Aunts uncles cousins and the like, for them it's a way to reassure themselves that those important to them are actually ok…"

"the bigger clans were disbanded for various reasons before the start of the war and most of them live in smaller groups and settlements now, but the family mind set is still rather ingrained the more personal the connection to the individual the more frequent the touching. When it comes to those they care about, they require that feedback and their brains are pretty much hardwired to seek it." Charley finished with another shrug.

"Family?" Chair commented curiously starring at Charley with an odd look on her face. Thst caused the mechanic to grin in response.

" I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume the reason you're asking all these questions about tail touching and stuff..is because it's been happening rather frequently to you. Sooo..Welcome to the family Chair." she answered cheekily giving an exaggerated wink.

Chair scrunched her nose and flicked the piece of hotdog bun at her, but found she was actually pleased at the thought of being considered family by Modo, and possibly the others as well... Although her heart gave a sad dip as it suddenly occurred to her that maybe she had misread things after all, and he wasn't really looking for a relationship, and only viewed her in a sisterly or similar fashion.

"Wait that explains the tails but what about the cheek brushing thing?" Chair asked, glancing back up at from where she'd been studying some of the deeper groves in the table top, to meet Charley's gaze once more.

"That's actually a little more complicated to explain." Charley answered sheepishly

"Ah…of course because none of the rest of the stuff involving males not only from another culture but from a completely different PLANEThas been complicated." Chair said with wry sarcasm.

"Hey ! at least you have me for the Martian male 411. I had to learn all this crap on my own! On top of some other really awkward situations."

"You ever have to explain the concept of what can and cannot be flushed down a toilet to a grown man..err..male..mouse .Oh hell! you know what I mean."

" The first week was like having a house full of fury buff Neanderthals' with the mentality of five year olds and no concept of privacy, doors or repair costs. I had to walk them through how to use nearly everything including the shampoo in the shower" Charley responded tersely.

"Sorry" chair said abashed. It had never really occurred to her, what everything must have been like for the younger women, when she first encountered the Martian males. Chair at least had come into this with Charley already aware of everything for the most part and able to act as guide when needed. Charley herself had, had to navigate it all on her own.

"Its alright." Charley replied letting out a small puff of air as she watched Chair fiddle nervously with a frayed bit of string hanging from the rag wrapped around her injured hand.

" I understand the frustration, but please bear in mind that despite everything. I'm a mechanic not an alien emissary or the like, so I'm probably not going to do the greatest job at explaining all this stuff… but I am trying ok."

"The cheek brushing thing ..is a little different than the tail it's an affection thing for family. but not the same as the tails.. as far as I know it's only used for females in the group, and young children ..and under certain circumstances it's a bit like a kiss on the cheek but..not .. quite"

"They do pick up things through the contact but it also has something to do with scent marking.. I think.. I'm not sure exactly how to put it …Carbine actually explained it to me better than the guys, but I really don't think I'm getting it across right. Just like the clan thing there's a lot more to it than just that.."

"In fact these things actually have different names than what I'm using, but I'm trying to use the closest earth equivalents I can think of" Charley finished with a sigh reaching up to rub at her temple as if fighting against a sudden headache.

"That's ok I think I get the gist of it." Chair said her expression one of distant thought as she mulled over everything she'd just learned.

"Chair?" Charley inquired after giving her a few more minutes to reflect on what she'd just told her.

"Hmmm?" Chair responded distractedly blinking as she refocused her gaze on the Charley once more.

"Was that all you needed for now?" Charley asked an odd glint in her eye.

"Oh .. uh ..yeah I guess..I mean yes thank you." Chair said with mild confusion as she studied the mechanic before her.

"Good." Charley replied with a wide grin, before turning towards the kitchen door and yelling.

"MODO! GET IN HERE! CHAIR'S HURT!"

Chairs jaw dropped briefly in disbelief snapping back shut again as Charley slowly turned back to face her with the grin still plastered across her face.

"Why..you.. I should beat your ass with this damn tray." Chair muttered darkly as she narrowed her eyes at the silently laughing mechanic,

Chair continued to glare in irritation glancing between the door ,and a slightly hunched Charley as she shook with quit laughter, one hand wrapped around her ribs to help brace against the discomfort. As the distant sound of a thump followed by Vinnies pained yelp of "Ouch!That was my tail you just stomped on!" filtered through the walls.

"You just wait I will find a way to get you back for that." Chair hissed a split second before the sound of heavy footsteps headed rapidly in their direction reached them.


	11. (Memories and Love Among the Ruins)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (W.W.T.) Sorry about the length of time it's taken for me to post this Chapter. I've been a bit under the weather and have had a lot going on. I am feeling a bit better now though and hopefully it won't take me so long with the next Chapter. Forever ago I ran across a bit of information that said that the writers for Bmfm series. Had briefly considered adding in a mention of Modo previously being married in the 90's series, but since it only ran for three seasons it never happened. Now whether or not that's true or if it was just a fan-based rumor I'm not sure, but it sparked the idea for some of the background parts for this fic. That I will slowly be leading up to in future chapters, and that I start dropping some bigger hints at for in this one. I would like to leave a shout out to everyone who left reviews to let me know they were enjoying the story and a special thank you to Youkai55 for being an all around good friend and for messaging to check up on me when I wasn't feeling so great.
> 
> Disclaimer: Bmfm not mine My Oc and the concept for this story however are, I make no money from this, it is for entertainment purposes only.

Modo stood on the shifting red sands starring over the rolling expanse of the Mars, as the lights of the double moons that were known by the names Phobos and Deimos on earth. Shown down on the surface casting the rock scattered landscape into a surreal twilight.

The prickling sense of something not quite right with the scene played at the back of his mind, as he continued to take in the sight of his home planet with an odd feeling of detachment. The noticeable absence of shadows coupled with the lack of wind or movement of any kind finally served to clue him into the fact that it wasn't real.

The night dark sky suddenly changing to light with no discernable shift in the positions of the twin moons, only further cemented the fact that this was happening solely in his mind. Modo felt the nearly overwhelming need to turn and run, as seemingly from out of nowhere an agonizingly familiar cave entrance sprang up before him.

But as was often the case in most of the dreams he had that started like this he found he had no real control over the course of his next actions, and despite the small portion of his consciousness that fought to halt his forward progress.

He found himself walking into the opening to a cave he had slowly and painstakingly hollowed out, and widened by hand over the course of several months with help from Throttle and Vinnie.

Modo reached out his arm unable to stop it any more than his forward momentum and felt his hand move of its own vocation to trace the double initials carved against the wall there as he passed by them.

An ever increasing sense of dread forcing the realization that it was his actual right arm and not the mechanical replacement doing the tracing to the back of his thoughts, as his feet continued to drag him further into the underground cavern against his will.

The main room came into view much sooner then he recalled and Modo's forward progress came to a stop as he stepped out into the center of it, a heavy weighted and unnatural silence pressing in on him from the seemingly empty space. Until it was suddenly broken by the repetitive creak of a rocking chair, he knew by heart. Having carved it like the cave himself.

"Took your ass long enough to get home." a wry humor laced voice intoned warmly behind him causing Modo's heart to clench painfully in his chest his eyes stinging as he closed them and took in a sharp breath before the owner of the voice's name came choking out of him on a gasp.

"Kioni". The knowledge that he was in a dream did nothing to stop him as he jerked as if shot and spun wildly about to cast his gaze around in search of them.

But the surrounding walls of the cave disappeared replaced by a pile of rubble he recognized as the building that had come crashing down on top of Charley. The urge to locate the owner of the voice suddenly replaced by the driving need to reach the trapped mechanic caused Modo to stumble towards the heap of debris and start digging with abandon.

The grey furred male released a small cry of shock as he cleared the last section of crumbled brick and drywall, and was greeted not by the denim clade form of the Auburn haired mechanic as he remembered.

But by the body of a smaller softly curved female possessing a thick fall of gold curls, which instead of being pinned up in their usual haphazard way, were currently spread out around her in an ever growing pool of red that rapidly soaked and stained the previously golden tresses a dirty rust color.

The chilling sight caused another dismayed cry to break involuntarily from him as he reached for her only for his hands to connect with nothing but hard packed soil. As she seemed to suck right down beneath it a fraction of a second before he could grab her.

Modo clawed frantically at the dirt his fingers digging painfully into the hard compacted surface. Panic driving him as the scent of blood filled his nostrils so strong he was almost gagging on the metallic taste of it.

A frustrated snarl that was part sob escaped him as he gnashed his teeth together and continued scratching and raking his hands across the ground until his nails splintered, and snapped.

Giving up on the futile scrapping Modo curled his hands into fists and started to rain down blows upon the unscathed surface with hammering force. A low grunt of pain escaping him with every connecting strike.

Modo pitched forward headfirst on a downward strike as the ground beneath him suddenly dissolved to be replaced by a void less abysses with no discernable top or bottom.

Trepidation drug an Icey trail down his spin as he subconsciously realized what was coming a second before the voice of a small child floated to him from the darkness

" Uncle Modo! Help!"

" PRIMER!" Modo shouted his head whipping from side to side in search of the source.

Only to have his shout returned in place by the distant warbling cry of a newborn, that seemed to pour from nowhere and everywhere at once, as he hung suspended in the inky blackness.

A debilitating spike of agony shot through his heart at the sound, his breath freezing momentarily in his lungs before bursting out in a tortured rush.

Modo fell forward a pained cry leaving his throat in a wordless bark of sound, as his feet slipped off the stool he'd had them propped against while he dozed, and crashed down on the concrete floor below, connecting with enough force to cause a spider web of cracks to appear beneath his boots.

He gasped brokenly his breath coming in harsh pants as he regained his bearings and swallowed the second shout that had lodged itself in his throat. Looking around as the gloomy interior of the garage slowly came back into focus.

Modo tried to shake the ominous sense of foreboding that still clung to the edges of his subconscious as the last vestiges of the disturbing nightmare faded away.

While he knew some mice were gifted with higher senses of intuition than others, bordering almost on the power of premonition. He had never really been one of them…although he had occasionally wondered about Throttle, as the tan mouse at times possessed an almost uncanny foresight, when it came to knowing which tactical strategies where likely to have the best results in their fights with the enemy.

Modo took another steadying breath lifting up his left hand to Shakely scrub it across his face, before he glanced up at the top of the stairs, and flinched at the sight of Charley's bedside lamp clicking on.

The whispering rustle of blankets and the soft pad of bare feet banishing any remaining hope that he hadn't woken her even before the outline of her silhouette came into view.

"Modo? …You ok?" Charley rasped sleepily as she made her way slowly down the stairs towards him. Pausing on the bottom step and watching quizzically, as the nearly seven foot four hundred pound Martian fidgeted and shifted uncomfortably under her close scrutiny.

"Yeah...Sorry.. Charley-Ma'am just… had a bit of a …bad dream..I guess …Sorry I woke you." He muttered not meeting her gaze. Charley slowly blinked as she stared at him a moment longer,

before glancing down to take in the array of cracks in the smooth concrete spreading out from his boots, Her brow furrowing as she reached up and ran a hand through her already mussed hair at the sight.

" Must have been some nightmare." Charley mumbled " Geeze..first my work bench now my floor…"

Modo looked up at her sheepishly and flinched at the reminder as he recalled the destruction of the bench in question, his mind trailing back to the events of earlier that day. But In his defense Charley had honestly frightened him when she had called out that Chair was hurt.

The implications of the accident prone Chair being injured while she was in a room full of Sharp, superheated and potentially combustible objects had run amuck with his imagination, As he had made his mad sprint across the room stomping Vinnie's tail and somehow plowing over and completely demolishing the heavy wooden bench in the process.

He'd smashed Vinnies tail hard enough that Charley had actually gone to the trouble to wrap and splint the bruised limb with supplies from the first aid kit that Throttle had thoughtfully carried in with him as he trailed into the kitchen behind the grey Martian (much to the flustered Modo's relief) at the same time he had set about trying to check Chair.

Who had insisted adamantly that it was just a minor burn and nothing to really fuss over. While trying to tug her injured limb out of his grip and shooting slant eyed glares at Charley the entire time. Until increasingly agitated and wanting to assure himself she was still relatively in one piece he had cut her off mid protest.

Modo suffered another flash of discomfort as his mind once more played back over the conversation that had followed

" I've had burns before and just because they weren't that bad didn't make em' hurt any less. Now… hold still and let me see!," He had gritted out in almost a growl, His words coming out uncharacteristically sharp with her.

The stunned silence that fell over the room at his outburst had caused Modo to cringe internally as everyone temporarily froze awkwardly for a second.

before rapidly starting to go about their tasks with rabid fervor while trying to look anywhere but in his and Chair's direction. Modo had braced himself and glanced up from his inspection of her blistered flesh to take in her reaction.

His contrite gaze meeting Chair's wide-eyed one as her mouth hung slightly open while she stared at him in shock. Modo had cringed again admitting to himself that- that probably hadn't been the best response on his part.

But his worry for her coupled with his frustration from the botched conversation earlier hadn't exactly left him in the best frame of mind.

"Sorry…that came out wrong." he mumbled reaching up with his tail to gently close her mouth as she continued to gape at him.

Chair slowly blinked then blinked again as she regarded him silently another moment before finally nodding her head mutely at him in response.

"Thats..it's..ok" she said a few minutes later after a slight hesitation.

Her carefully blank expression and neutral tone had let him know that despite her words and the fact that he was a mouse, and not a canine he could probably count himself in the doghouse for the next little while.

A soft touch from Charley pulled Modo from his memories and caused him to jump slightly as the concerned mechanic reached out to gently cup his cheek. "Modo?"….are You sure you're ok? She murmured in concern as her eyes searched his.

Realizing that charley knew him to well and wasn't going to be put off without a real answer. Modo reached his hand up, and gently tugged hers away from his cheek giving it a gentle squeeze before releasing it.

"No", he finally replied looking down at his mechanical hand without really seeing it his gaze distant in thought. Charley waited a moment as she took in his reply the silence between them stretching as he stared down at his lap without elaborating further.

" Oh Modo" Charley finally whispered her heart aching as she studied the miserable pain filled expression on his face, Before she moved forward and wrapped her arms around his neck.

A somber smile touching her lips as the large male after only a seconds hesitation reached up to gently return the embrace, Mindful of her injured ribs.

" I 'll be alright Charley ...just a few old memories an Ghosts coming to call." he whispered softly his gaze slowly turning distant. "…I'm… not really up for talking about it right now…"

Charley didn't need psychic abilities to pick up on anguish in his voice. But she wasn't sure what to say in response to it. Settling instead for tightening her arms around him further, in the hopes that the action would offer him the comfort she didn't feel her words could at that moment.

They stood that way silently for an indefinable length of time before Charley finally pulled away reaching out to affectionately rub his cheek again as she regarded him.

The mice were so care free and nonchalant most of the time it was easy for her to occasionally forget all the trauma, and hell her guys had been through before she had even meet them. No matter how you put it, War was a truly horrible and painful thing for all those caught in the middle of it.

Charley pursed her lips her expression turning stern, as she studied the grey furred male before her. "If you need anything don't hesitate to call for me alright. I'm here if you need me." she said her tone of voice brooking no arguments. As she watched the large Martians own expression shift to amusement as he stared back at her.

Even with the moroseness of his current mood Modo couldn't help the smile that twisted up the edges of his mouth. In face of the feisty mechanic's steadfast demeanor as she made the offer in all seriousness in spite of the fact. That he was technically supposed to be the one taking care of her at the moment.

"I think that's supposed to be my line." He answered with a low chuckle.

"Whatever …you know what I meant." Charley replied her lips twitching up into a wry smile, even as she rolled her eyes at him.

Modo felt the edges of his mouth curl up again, as he was struck by another rush of affection for the fiery and quick witted earth female who had become like another sister to him.

"Thanks Charley- I appreciate it." He replied his tone serious

"You're welcome big guy." She said her voice and expression a mirror of his.

"well.. Goodnight again." Charley said after a brief moment of silence had stretched between them.

Charley slowly started up the stairs to her room once more. Stopping as she reached the second one from the top to glance back at the male below.

" Modo?..I really do mean it..I'm here if you need me.. any of you." She said sincerely as she stared down at him.

"We know Charley girl." Modo replied with a warm smile that the auburn haired mechanic returned before heading up the last two steps to once more return to bed.

Modo resituated himself with his feet propped up on the bar stool once more, leaning back while listening to the sounds of Charley resettling into bed. Despite the heavy droop of his own eyelid coupled with the drained feeling he experienced in the wake of his dream. He had a pretty good hunch sleep would still be a long time returning that night.

[Chair]

Chair paced the small confines of her apartment for what had to be the twentieth time in the last ten minutes and glanced once more towards the small cardboard box were her clock perched. The time displayed in glowing red glaring back at her and only further digging in the fact that Modo was over half an hour late to get her.

Chair tried to tamp down on the worry eating away inside her over this but in the time since he'd started picking her up, Modo had never really shown up more than a minute or two late to get her.

Chair took a calming breath and tried to remind herself that there was probably a perfectly logical explanation for the grey furred males' tardiness in coming to get her this morning.

A small petty part of her that she didn't really want to acknowledge was also annoyed at his lateness over the fact that she'd spent a little more time with her appearance this morning than on previous occasions.

Nothing extreme but despite the difficult with her burnt and bandaged hand. She had gone to the actual trouble to tame her wild frizz of hair into a semblance of a style.

Smoothing and carefully rolling it into an actual bun, while leaving a few of strands to gently frame her face. Instead of yanking it up into the loose haphazard twist she usually put it up in to keep it out of her face.

"Where is he" she whispered before walking over to stare out of her apartment's only window. More simply for something to do than for the actual view seeing as it only offered one of the crumbling and graffiti marked wall of the building next door, but it beat making another lap of her nearly claustrophobic living space.

Chair didn't really know why she'd decided to take the extra time to fix herself this morning, but blamed it in part on her conversation with Charley the previous evening and her growing feelings for the Martian behemoth.

And after the uncomfortable tension of the previous evening she was also hoping to get this morning off to a better start for her and the grey furred male.

despite her initially hurt feelings over his unusually curt response with her while he'd treated her burn, after she'd had some time to think on it it hadn't really been so much harsh or out of line as it had been out of character for him.

And if she was truly being honest with herself she really hadn't been hurt by the terseness of his response so much as unsettled.

Although that hadn't made the following meal any less tense or awkward for everyone, In fact the whole afternoon had pretty much been rather botched after that. It had been a tremendous relief when the day had come to a close and Modo dropped her off at her apartment without his usual offer to walk her to her door.

Stating instead that he needed to go ahead and get back to the garage to keep an eye on Charley. He had waited a few seconds to watch her walk up the steps to the building, before turning Hoss around with a loud rev and tearing down the street in the opposite direction.

Chair crossed her arms around her middle suddenly worried for a different reason and wondered if perhaps he was actually mad at her, over how things had ended between them in the kitchen, when she had cut him off the day before.

A knock on the door had Chair jerking in surprise before she turned to hurry across the room to fling the door open in relief. " Bout time I was starting to think you'd forgotten Me—Vinnie?" Chair trailed off in surprise as she took in the white furred male standing in the hall.

" Morning Doll" Vinnie started only to halt midway through as Chair reached out and snagged him by the bandoleers to yank him down to her level. "Where is he?! IS HE OK!?" She half shouted panic suddenly eating at her as she clung to the criss-crossed straps on his chest.

"HYNKK! Gah! Easy there doll." Vinnie choked out reaching up to pry her vice like grip off his duds.

" He's fine He was just still sawing logs, when we got to the garage this morning and Charley asked us to let him sleep a little longer is all. Something about him having a rough night and not getting much rest." Vinnie replied rubbing at his chest.

"So lucky you. I volunteered and you get yours truly for your studly Martian taxi service today." He finished with a cocky grin and a waggle of his eye ridges. Chair completely unfazed by Vinnie's usual flirty teasing, breathed a sigh of relief that the switch up wasn't because Modo was injured or sick.

"Volunteered?" she asked relaxing and raising one eyebrow at the suddenly uncomfortable looking male.

"Well maybe saying I volunteered is stretching it a bit more like I was volunteered/told to pick you up by a certain green-eyed and fierce tempered mechanic .Since Throttle had already offered to help get breakfast started… Lucky bugger" He muttered glancing to the side and scratching sheepishly at the end of his nose. Chair couldn't help the laugh that escaped at the put out expression that flitted across the white furred males face as he finished.

Vinnie narrowed his eyes at her briefly before tossing the spare helmet he'd brought with him towards a startled Chair who scrambled to catch it." Come on Doll let's get this show on the road. I don't know about you, but I'm starving and the sooner I get you back to the garage. The sooner I get to eat" he said an almost shark like smile spreading across his face as he stood before her.

The show on the road expression had a ring of familiarity to it. That sparked a vague memory for Chair of Modo saying something along the same lines to her one of the first times he'd picked her up from her apartment,

But the familiar statement coming from the white furred male before her, failed to incite the same feeling of comfortable reassurance for her. AS she stared down at the smooth and slightly reflective surface of the helmet in her grip before looking up at Vinnie's retreating back with a sudden sinking sensation in the pit of her guts.

What seemed like an impossibly short time later they pulled up in front of the last Chance Vinnie somehow having cut the usual fifteen minute ride down to a mere seven. All the while complaining about how he could have made it in three, if he hadn't had to slow down, Because Chair kept screaming at him.

Chair herself slide bonelessly of the back of the insane speed demons bike and attempted to pry off her helmet with fingers that wouldn't stop shaking. While listening to the white furred male lament about his botched record as her stomach rolled and pitching like a ship at sea.

Chairs gaze was suddenly hampered by a furred chest as the mouse in question paused in front of her in concern" uh doll you ok?" Realizing what was about to transpire and Mentally apologizing in advance, Chair barley managed to get her fingers to cooperate enough for her to pry off the helmet just in time to prevent spewing inside it, But was unfortunately was only able to bark out a hasty "Vin! Mov-" Before she gagged and heaved violently all over his boots.

The following sound of the Martians males' rather un-masculine sounding shriek of disgust rang throughout the room. Almost simultaneously with the action, and temporarily drowned out the noise of Chairs violent retching.

Twenty minutes a slew of apologies, a bucket of cleaner, and a round with a spare toothbrush later. A still queasy Chair sat at her desk trying to concentrate on taking down a message from a rather rude and disgruntled customer.

Who despite the early hour and the fact that it was well before the garages opening time had continued to call repeatedly. A dull ache began to pulse behind her eyes as the man on the other end of the phone line droned on.

Chair tried to console herself with the thought that at least Modo had still been asleep when they had first arrived, and she had been spared the indignity of giving him a front row seat as she had ralphed her guts up all over Vinnie.

Gingerly Chair reached up with her bandaged hand to rub at her throbbing temples as she fought against the urge to snap in annoyance at the irate man on the phone,

Whom she had already spoken with on three separate occasions the day before as he once more told her, in great length how displeased he was with the new time frame she'd given him for the repairs he had wanted done on his vehicle.

She was certain he was just trying to wheedle some form of discount out of her, but Charley had already had her cut the cost in half once for him already. On top of explaining that he was welcome to pay and pick up the parts he had already ordered at any time, and to take them elsewhere to be installed.

But he apparently felt he should have the parts themselves for free along with a free installation and angry that Chair wouldn't give into his demands. Had resorted to some rather vulgar descriptive terms of what he thought of her.

" I'm sorry you feel that way sir, but the remaining cost of the parts is nonnegotiable. The last chance is already taking a cut on the profits as it is.

"If you still have a problem with this and would like to discuss it with the owner. As I previously mentioned I can take a message and have her contact you at a later date, when she's had a bit more time to recover from her accident."

"But I am afraid that may not be for some time yet though and-." Chair pulled the phones receiver away from her ear, as her response was met with a new barrage of colorfully crude words. Several in orders she had never previously heard before and would have never imagined on her own.

She glanced up as Throttle entered the room and walked over to set a small plate of apple slices on the edge of the desk.

Chair stared curiously at the plate a moment, then up at the tan mouse her eyes questioning as she angled the receiver further away from her ear.

"Courtesy of the big guy. He's still waking up but he mentioned to Charley that you liked these, and thought it might be easier on your stomach than our usual fare." Throttle said shooting Chair a crooked smile, right before his ears twitched slightly and his gaze narrowed sharply at the phone in her hand.

" Problem?" Throttle asked not waiting for a response as he used his tail to pull the receiver from her non protesting grip. Lifting it only a fraction of the way to his own ear before his expression twisted into a dark scowl.

" Listen pal I'm going to hang up, and I recommend if you have even one iota of a brain cell floating around. You don't call back until; you can talk to the lady here with some more respect."

"Because if you don't. Me or one of My Bro's will be more than happy to assist you with the relocation of your parts, and Business somewhere else in a manner very similar to what You just described."

" you feel me?" Throttle intoned ominously before clicking the phone firmly down into its cradle.

"Geeze I hope you don't have to handle calls like that often" he commented with a grimace." No thankfully callers and customers of that particular caliber seem to be few and far between." Chair said leaning back in her seat with a relived sigh idly starting to shift through a stack of papers on her desk.

"But personally I'd rather deal with a dozen guys like Mr. Rude Loud Mouth on the phone any day than the overly friendly handsy fellow that's supposed to be coming in sometime later today." Chair commented absently with a shrug as she rummaged around on the desk.

" Handsy?" Throttle inquired his brow furrowing and his mouth suddenly tightening into a firm line. Chair continued on oblivious to the look as she sorted through stack of papers one handed, while resting her burnt and bandaged one on the desk.

"Yeah I know that's something coming from me. But this guy was a real pervert. He came in week before last if I remember right… brought in the red ford s ten I think. It wasn't initially me he made a go at, but after Charley purposefully dropped a box of tools on his foot he switched tactics and by tactics I mean chicks."

"Unfortunately I didn't have a box of tools handy myself or I think I would have been sorely tempted to bruise his other foot on principle alone. Creep had nearly no concept of manners or personal space and on top of the wandering hands kept trying to look down my shirt while he was filling out the paperwork."

"He's supposed to be in sometime today to pick up his order. So if you hear me screeching it may be because I need one of you to come save my ass. Literally." Chair said wryly a laugh dying in her throat as she looked up and caught sight of Throttles expression.

It suddenly occurred to Chair that she might have just made a mistake sharing that last little tidbit with the Martian male as she watched him grit his teeth in irritation.

"Chair ..have you or Charley mentioned Mr. Handsy to Modo or Vinnie by Chance?" Throttle asked

"well..no or at least I don't think so. I know I haven't and I'm pretty sure it's slipped Charley's mind that he's even coming today what with everything going on."Chair answered.

" I think it might be best for everyone if you don't bring it up around ether of them and let me be the one to give sir hands his parts." Throttle said." Um I'm not sure..I mean I appreciate the offer but what…" Chair started only to halt as Throttle cut her off.

" I'll wear my helmet and tuck my tail," he replied.

"Ok.."Chair replied shifting uncomfortably an scrunching her nose up briefly as she regarded him questioningly.

"Alright I admit Vinnie I kind of get not telling he'd probably have a stroke if he caught somebody making a pass at Charley …but surly it couldn't hurt if Modo knew..I mean-I know he can be kind of protective but…"Chair trailed off unable to picture the large male actually committing an act of serious violence over something so minor as a simple perv even an overly grabby one.

Something in her expression must have given her thoughts away as she noticed the tan mouse's mouth form into a thin line as he watched her.

Throttle realized after a moment that Chair didn't really seem to be grasping the seriousness behind his request to keep the grey furred male in the dark for the time being,

and not really wanting to have to tackle one of his bro's later on in order to protect some sleaze bag from taking a permanent dirt nap, decide he might need to elaborate a bit more.

" Let me put it this way… when you think of Modo you probably just picture him the way he normally is around you .A big tall polite guy who's kinda shy and seems relatively mild mannered. But allow me to bring up a few …things about the Big Guy you might not be aware of…"

" First off He sews -He has a very big soft spot for kids. He was raised by his mother and older sister to always be courteous to females…"

" He actually has a wicked temper when riled- and despite our nearly stranded status here on earth is still labeled as a class nine alpha security risk by the Plutarkian government. Which believe me if you knew how they rate risks in relation to distance to their home planet is more than a little impressive."

"So I can assure you no matter how sweet you think he is… if he walked in to find some creep with his hands on you."

' They would be six feet in the ground before you could even finish saying laser mounted arm canon." Throttle said watching Chair's eyes widen as she took in his statement the hand holding the papers she had been searching through slowly lowering back to the desk top as she continued to stare at him.

"Modo sews?" She said after a brief silence. Throttle blinked at her in surprise an exasperated snort escaping him as he reached up to rub at the bridge of his nose.

" Out of all that…that's honestly what you zero in on?" He muttered his tone taking on a bewildered edge as he regarded her.. Chair blushed hunching her shoulders while looking down at the papers in her hand to avoid eye contact with him.

"Well you have to admit that is a little bit of a surprising thing to hear." She mumbled back.

"Do I need to worry about you doubting me when it comes to any off the rest of what I just mentioned?" Throttle asked his wry tone just skirting the edge between seriousness and amusement.

"No I suppose not", Chair responded almost sheepishly when put like that it did seem rather naïve and insulting on her part to assume any of the Martian males, who regularly risked life and limb to protect complete strangers, would ever stand idly by if she or Charley were in need of help or protection in any form, even if that protection was just keeping some perverted lurker with wandering hands from putting his on them.

" All right I'm not really sure what time he's supposed to be here but I'll try and get your attention so you can handle things when he does."

" In fact I'm going to go ahead and get the parts ready now just in case…" Chair said as she pushed back away from the table and stood up. "Alright" Throttle said with a small nod before he turned to head out of the room." just remember mums the word till after Mr. dirt bag is gone ok" he called over his shoulder.

" Got it" Chair responded with a distracted wave in his direction as her eyes pursued the shelves in search of the box she needed. Chair cringed not even a minute after he'd left the room as her gaze finally lit on the box in question perched precariously on the next to top shelf well out of her immediate reach.

"Of course" she muttered with dry sarcasm as she glanced around in search of something sturdy enough for her to step up on in order to reach it. Chair briefly contemplated the rolly-chair in front of her desk ,before disregarding it in favor of a much sturdier looking (and more importantly wheel-less) metal bench located not too far for her to slide it with a little extra effort over to where she needed it.

Five minutes later a dismayed Chair realized even with the benches added height the box of parts was still a good four inches out of her reach. After a few minutes of frustrated contemplation Chair decided to throw caution to the wind and climbed up onto the bottom shelf

Reaching above her head for the elusive box her fingers just skimmed across the edge of it, before the shelf she was using as a step creaked then lurched down. Dropping the handful of items it was supporting along with Chair into midair. Chair gave a startled squawk and closed her eyes in anticipation of a jarring impact with the hard cement floor that never happened.

To her surprise instead she felt her body connect with the still hard but slightly more forgiving surface of a firmly muscled chest as two arms closed around her waist to support her weight and keep her from sliding to the floor in an undignified heap. Blinking in surprise Chair squirmed in the grasp as she craned her neck to meet Modo's pained and slightly stressed expression.

" Are you ok ?" he asked his voice coming out slightly strangled as his arms tightened around her subconsciously as he pulled her more firmly against his chest. "Y-yeah..sorry" Chair said embarrassed as much by her own clumsiness as she was at the sudden turn of events.

Chair expected Modo to set her down after the immediate shock wore off, but to her surprise he continued to hold her awkwardly above the ground. As his gaze moved down her body as if double checking to make sure she was in fact unhurt as she claimed.

"Uh-Modo you can put me down now ..if you want." Chair said hesitantly as she looked back at him.

" …And if- I don't want to?" Modo said with only a slight hesitation on his part, as another moment passed and he continued to hold her against him.

Chair's breath hitched in surprise at the unexpected response as Modo's gaze bore into hers.

"Well I'm a bigger gal so I'm sure your arms are bound to get tired eventually." She joked nervously as she shifted slightly to try and reach the floor with her toes. Modo frowned but allowed her to slide down his body using his grip on her middle to steady her until she regained her footing.

" I wish you wouldn't talk about yourself that way." he said as Chair turned to face him.

"Well I'm sure it's obvious to everyone, including you that I'm not exactly a twig" Chair replied finding it easier to concentrate on this aspect of the conversation between them than on his almost blatant flirty comment from minutes before.

"I know you're aware I'm not just big boned here… in fact the three letters used most often to describe me in high school were F.A and T." Chair said depreciatively watching as the large males mouth twisted into a grim line at her comments.

" No your…" Modo started. "What?" Chair interrupted "you want to pretty it up a bit- Chunky? Plump?"

"Perfect." he finished his expression and tone serious as he looked into her eyes.

Chair stilled her eyes widening and her heart clenching in her chest, as she stared back at him in surprise. (Damn it… well there goes almost any chance that remained of me not falling completely in love with you.) Chair thought belatedly her mouth opening and closing again wordlessly as she looked up at him.

Chair blinked then slowly blinked again as she took in the grey furred males statement taking a breath as she tried to gather her thoughts and maybe form a reply, but she found she was unable to string together a coherent one.

Beyond the fact that that might have been the sweetest thing anyone had ever said to her, and instead simply blurted."Modo what are we?", as she peered up at him.

Modo paused apparently taken aback by her response but quickly recovered a touch of humor lacing his voice as he replied.

"Well…I'm a Martian Mouse and you're a female earthling…" ending on a chuckle as Chair to narrowed her gaze at him and reached out to sock him lightly on the left arm, before she dropped her arm back down to rub nervously at her pant leg her eyes shifting to the side.

" No what I mean is…what are we?...are we just friends or -what I'm trying to say is.. Gad! I'm really not good at explaining this stuff!. ..Its just..I've been getting some mixed signals lately and I just wanted to know…what exactly we are in relation to each other…."Chair trailed of as she glanced back up to meet Modo's gaze and gauge his reaction to her clumsy and awkward line of questioning.

Modo froze the tip of his tail the only part of him giving anything away as it twitched almost imperceptibly beside his feet, as he stared down at her for what felt like an agonizingly long period of time before speaking.

" What do you want us to be?" He finally asked his expression still unreadable as he regarded her.

Chair swallowed thickly feeling a bit like her tongue had doubled in size as she tried to remember how to form the syllables for a response.

" I like us as friends" Chair started pausing as Modo visibly tensed before she quickly continued" but…I'm open to there being more- between us…if you are" she finished shifting nervously as she waited to see what his response would be.

Modo stilled completely even the subtle twitching of his tail coming to a stop briefly, before a relieved grin broke out across his face his tail moving up to wrap around her waist and tug her towards him. Both of his hands going back to her waist as Chair thrown slightly off balance by the action braced her for arms against his chest.

" I'm definitely open to more." he replied his voice dropping down an octave his words rumbling deep in his chest in a way that she could actually feel against her arms as looked down at her. Chair felt a mild blush tinging her cheeks as she craned her neck to stare up at him. They stood that way silently for a terse minute before Chair finally broke it.

" Alright…now what?"She asked causing the stone furred male to furrow his brow at her.

"Well..?"he hedged." Well..What?" Chair asked a hint of exasperation creeping into her tone.

"Honestly I haven't thought that far ahead." Modo replied sheepishly as he looked down at her.

" You're supposed to kiss her dumbass!" Vinnies voice suddenly cut in behind them.

Chair jerked in surprise and turned to glance over her shoulder towards the garages living quarters were a freshly showered Vinnie leaned against the door frame watching them.

Modo's hands twitched against her sides and his tail tightened around her waist as if in anticipation of her pulling away, while his expression twisted into a long suffering grimace at the interruption.

Chair blinked in surprise as it registered that the white mouse was currently wearing nothing but a towel. His still damp fur sticking out in wet spikes as he continued to lean against the door frame with an amused grin on his face.

"Vinnie I swear I don't even care why the hell your naked ..but you have three seconds to leave before I shoot you starting ..now." Modo growled his right arm coming up to level in the other male's direction.

Vinnie recognizing the seriousness behind the grey furred male's statement, lifted his arms in supplication and began to back out of the room.

"Whoa there ..Well I can see your busy..so I'll just be—Ack!" Vinnie suddenly darted behind the door frame the last of his reply ending on a yelp as a blast mark appeared in the wall next to him.

Chair blinked at the exchange in surprise before looking back up at Modo once more her lips quirking up at the corners in amusement and one eyebrow arched inquisitively as she regarded him.

"You realize Charley's going to be pissed you just put another hole in her wall..right?" She asked.

"Trust me she'd have been madder if I actually gave into temptation and put one in Vin instead." He replied his tone and the look on his face equal parts sour, causing Chair to choke down a laugh at his surly expression.

" I think he had a point though" Modo added as he glanced down at her, realizing what he meant Chair fought down a batch of nerves as she stared up at him.

"I'm not sure about full blown kissing just yet.. I wasn't even sure you guys did..kiss that is –but I guess since he mentioned it you do?..uh well that is..what I mean is- do you?" She finished her gaze suddenly trailing to his mouth curiously.

Modo's furrowed his brow slightly in confusion as he took in the jumbled rambling of her nervous reply "Do we what?"He asked with mild bewilderment.

Chair's cheeks which had already been tinted with a mild blush rapidly shifted to a darker hue as she responded her voice barley a whisper. " Do you kiss?"

Chair felt her pulse speed up at the look that suddenly entered the grey furred male's eye. A slow smile spread across his face as he leaned down towards her. only to halt as Throttle voice suddenly rang out from the other room.

"Vincent…Why the hell are you naked?"

"Oh come on. I'm in a towel!"Came Vinnie's muttered response

"For which I am eternally grateful. Now why the hell are you running around in just a towel?"

"Uh…bit of a long story…Have you seen Charley?...Oh and unless you fancy your fur extra crispy don't go in the garage."

Chair felt her lips twitch as Modo closed his eye on a groan and straightened back up. His tail and hands giving her waist a final light squeeze before loosening their grip to slide reluctantly away.

As he reached up to rub at the back of his neck with his cybernetic hand, mumbling a stream of words she couldn't quite make out, but suspected where somehow less than complimentary for the other Martian males.

Chair experienced a strong sense of disappointment at the bad timing of the interruption, and while part of her was nervous at the thought of actually kissing Modo, especially seeing as they had just gotten around to the concept of being more than just friends.

A bigger part of her had to admit that the idea of kissing him even with the newness of the shift in their relationship didn't feel wrong.

(Screw it! Nessun rimpianto No regrets right?) Chair thought going up on tiptoe and reaching up to firmly grip the still muttering male by the cheeks and pulling him down towards her. Caught off guard Modo's eye widened a split second before his mouth connected with hers.

"chai-Mmmph"

It wasn't a graceful start Modo's surprise coupled with Chairs diminutive height and the differences in the shapes of their mouths made for a bit of a clumsy and slightly uncoordinated mess, as they both tried to work out how to angle themselves to make it work.

But after a few seconds they managed to shift enough so that their mouths meshed up the right way, and for an undefined length of time everything else faded into the background.

A few minutes later Chair pulled away gasping to lean her for head against Modo's chest and realized with a jolt of surprise that at some point during the kiss not only had he apparently lifted her back up but she had wrapped her legs halfway around him while clinging to his shoulders as well.

"Well…I guess…t-that answers …that question" She panted as she peered up into the large males' slightly dazed expression.

"Modo?" Chair inqured quizzically after another second passed with him simply starring down at her.

"Hmmm?"Modo half hummed slowly blinking as he tightened his grip on her. Pulling her a little more firmly against him with his mechanical arm, as his left one rubbed gently against her back sending little tingles up her spine.

"You can put me down now" Chair said a touch of humor in her voice.

" And If I don't want to?"He replied a hint of mischief entering his gaze and twitching his lips as he stared down at her.

Chair grinned and opened her mouth to reply but instead found herself suppressing a giggle at the irritated expression that flitted across the Martian mouse's face as she was cut off by the shrill ring of the phone.

Modo groaned and bent down to briefly lean his forehead against hers before reluctantly loosening his grip and letting her slide down to the floor.

Chair let her finger trail slowly through the fur on his left arm as she gave him an apologetic smile before turning toward the desk to answer the phone.

Feeling his gaze follow her as she made her way the short distance across the room a warm flushed sensation tingling along her lips and coursing through her body.

Whatever might come in the future for her and Modo, and whether she had just jumped things forward to fast or not, at that moment Chair honestly couldn't bring herself to regret kissing him.


	12. [Free Fall in the name of Love]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (W.W.T.) Despite my typical long winded introduction. This actually isn't a very long chapter at least not by my usual standards. after I finished the last one I actually wished I'd shown some more parts of it from Modo's point of veiw as well, but since I had already done the majority of it from Chair's, I decided to just go ahead and move things forward instead… except our resident Giant Grey furred sweetie kept tapping insistently on my muses window..all the while requesting to have his say on things to. So after a few hours of beating my head against the key board, I gave in and gave it to him. And even with the fact that a large portion of this chapter is more or less the same as the last ' albeit from another perspective I'm still happy with how it came out, and I Promise loads more fluffy goodies in the next one. Mostly because I want them to enjoy at least one chapter of happy couple related bliss, before I go ahead and bring in Limburger and his goons. Crank up the angst and let the feces hit the oscillator…so to speak.
> 
>  
> 
> Disclaimer: Seriously Bmfm not mine. Believe me if I owned them they would have all been married and each saddled with a truck load of adorable and ridiculously wild kiddo's, Along looonng time ago. I do however own my Oc Chair and the idea for this particular story.
> 
> I'd also like to leave a special shout out to Sushan, Kela-ashes Eviline and Youkai55 for their reviews on the last chapter and to everyone else who has left reviews and feedback on this story. It honestly makes my day to hear how much you're enjoying it so far. And a very big thanks to Sushan for emailing me the proper Finnish translation for chapter seven. I've gone back and made the corrections to it now, thank you so much for taking the time to send that to me.

Modo came too slowly an odd assortment of confusing noises filtering through his sleep fogged thoughts, including what appeared to be (Vinnie?) Screeching almost in falsetto, The sound pulling him from the deep sleep he'd finally fallen into. What seemed like only minutes before the sun was due to rise.

Blinking slowly he turned to squint groggily in the direction of the sounds, But his line of sight was partially blocked by a small shelving unite. However having spent the majority of his childhood and adult years around both Throttle and Vinnie. Modo new his Bro's well enough to pick up on when one was genuinely in distress or not, and while Vinnie was currently making a rather loud fuss, there was nothing in his tone that indicated fear or pain. So it was with no real sense of urgency that the grey furred male began to get to his feet.

Stifling a yawn Modo gingerly sat up; wincing at a sharp stab of pain that passed through his neck and shoulders at the movement, and released a deep groan as he stood. Stretching a bit as he did to try and loosen up the stiff knot of muscles, that currently made up his back, after the unnatural slump his body had been reclined in the majority of the night.

. The gray furred male took a step away from the seat he'd been sleeping on, while trying to ignore how much he felt like he'd been backed over, by a Posse of Limburgers goons. Then parked on top of for good measure.

Swaying slightly on his feet Modo stopped and yawned again, standing in place a second longer as, he waited for his body to wake a little more before he, started across the room once more, Headed in the younger mouse's general direction to see what all his carrying on was about.

Modo paused right before rounding the shelf wrinkling his noise in distaste as he was struck by the acidic smell of vomit, and preceded forward at a slightly slower pace. Clearing the corner of the shelving unite just in time to see Chair disappearing through the doors to the garages main living area. Apologizing profusely as she high tailed it from the room, Trailed more slowly by a dismayed Vinnie

"Aw man these boots are pure Martian Noga hide leather –do you have any idea how hard that's gonna be to clean-an -Oh Gaah! I –I think its on my pants to! And O-oh in the name of Mars! …CHARLEY!"Vinnie ranted his disgust tinged voce gradually rising to a Shout as he passed through the archway as well.

Modo blinked then reached up to scrub a hand over his face, briefly wondering if he wouldn't have been better off just staying asleep. As his still waking brain and body tried to link up enough to process what exactly was going on, before he gave up and simply followed in the wake of the fleeing duo.

A while later after the worst of the morning's fiasco was out of the way. Modo stood in the kitchen helping Charley finish setting the table, and was just in the process of placing the last plate on the table. When the sound of a soft groan carried to his ears causing him look at the auburn haired mechanic in concern.

"You ok Charley-ma'am" he asked worriedly glancing sharply in her direction. Smiling reassuringly over at him as she slowly straitened back up from her side of the table, Charley stood and stiffly made her way back around it to stand next to him as she answered

"Fine still just a bit sore is all..but thanks for asking big guy. And for helping to set everything out. I really appreciate it." She said warmly leaning over to give him a half armed hug. "You're welcome. But you know you don't have to thank me for that" Modo murmured as he carefully returned the embrace, before Charley pulled away again.

"I know but I'm going to anyway. I'm also gonna go dig around and see if I can find a spare set of sweats for Vinnie to use. You mind letting Throttle know the foods ready?"She asked steping back to look up at him.

Modo smiled "No problem Charley-girl, be back in just a sec."He replied before heading out in search of his tan furred Bro. Modo had just cleared the entrance to the den on his way towards the main part of the garage when he ran into the mouse in question." Charley said to let you know the chows done. Better get to it while it's still hot"

Throttle grinned "Hey-you can call me a lot of things but late to eat isn't usually one of 'em" he replied chuckling. They had learned during their first year with the feisty mechanic that she could be stricter than any army or freedom fighter mess hall chief, and while she may be willing to make the meals for had best show up when she said it was time to, or be prepared to fend for themselves, or eat it cold.

"How's Chair holding up? Modo asked with tinge of concern, before the other male could make his way past him. He hadn't really been able to check up on her himself earlier since she had more or less locked herself in the bathroom and hadn't come back out until after he had went to help Charley in the kitchen. Only briefly poking her head in to ask Charley where she kept the cleaning supplies before disappearing back out into the garage.

"She still seemed a bit on the green side to me, but better then she was. I don't think she'll be accepting anymore rides from Vin in the near future though… Not that I think he'll be offering anytime soon either" Throttle answered with another chuckle, moving in the direction of the kitchen once more.

"I gave her a plate of apple slices like you suggested, but it probably wouldn't hurt to ask her if she wants anything else before its gone" Throttle added over his shoulder as he passed through the door.

Modo would have gone to check on Chair even without the suggestion from the tan furred male, but was still glad to have the additional excuse, as he moved out into the main part of the Garage in search of the curly haired female.

Glancing around he spotted her right as she stepped off the bench she'd apparently been using as a stool up onto the lower portion of one of the garages old shelving units. Uncomfortable with her precarious perch, Modo was already in heading towards her a split second before the low creak of metal reached his ears and the bottom part of the shelf in gave out under her feet.

Alarmed he quickly jumped forward the last few feet, breathing out in a relieved rush as he just managed to catch her. Modo's pulse hammered loudly in his ears as he pulled her up against his chest, and He had a vague notion that if his fur wasn't already on the grey side. The curvy little female's accident prone tendencies, coupled with her penchant for climbing up on random pieces of furniture would eventually lead to something on that particular color scheme for him.

"Are you ok" He asked wincing internally as his voice came out more like a strained croak. As Chair turned slightly in his grip to glance back at him over her shoulder, "Y-yeah..sorry" she stammered her sea green eyes wide and startled as they meet his own.

Despite her reassurance Modo still hesitated a moment longer with her in his arms, having been around her long enough at this point to know, That Chair didn't really like to draw a lot of attention to herself, and had a tendency to down play her own injuries. So before setting her down he ran a quick assessing gaze over her just to be sure. She might not be quite as openly tough and outgoing in the face of things as their feisty mechanic, but his girl could be just as stubborn in her own ways at times as well.

Modo froze as it dawned on him that he'd just thought of Chair as his girl, His arms tightening around her unconsciously as the realization was accompanied by a small sense of possessiveness…

Although he knew he didn't necessarily have the right to be thinking about her in those particular terms as of yet, and the uncertainty that immediately accompanied that line of thought was nerve wracking for him, because while he knew and had known for sometime how he felt or was starting to feel about the female currently in his arms… he still wasn't completely sure where he stood when it came to her end of things.

"uh-Modo?" Modo blinked coming back to himself at the sound of Chairs voice. "You can put me down now..if you want."Chair mumbled nervously as she stared at him over her shoulder.

(Well as my grey furred Mama always says, sometimes the best approach is a more direct one.) he thought fleetingly as he gazed down at the female still clutched securely in his arms. But things along these particular lines had never really been his strong suit… So he just went with his gut and said the first thing that popped into his head.

"And if-I don't want to?" Modo flinched internally but steadily held Chairs gaze, It might not have been the most witty response on his part… but seeing as he enjoyed holding her and had no real desire to set her down. It was at least an honest one.

Modo felt Chairs breathe stutter a moment before her heart rate speed up enough that he could practically hear, as well as feel where it thumped madly against the underside of her chest. Chair tensed a second before she responded.

"Well I'm a bigger gal, so I'm sure your arms are bound to get tired eventually" She finally answered despite her casual tone her voice held an odd note he couldn't place, as she wriggled restlessly in his grip, while attempting to stretch her legs down enough to reach the concrete floor below. Modo felt his mouth pull into a grim line at her words as he slowly complied with her unvoiced request and gently lowered her to the ground.

Modo didn't really know what he had expected in response to his admittedly clumsy attempt at-Heck he wasn't even completely sure what he'd been trying to accomplish with that particular ardent comment… but he did know that- that wasn't the reaction he was looking for.

" I wish you wouldn't talk about yourself that way." he murmured with a small frown. He wasn't really sure why but-it bothered him that her weight was the first thing she went to, almost as if it was something that she needed to throw out there as quickly as possible… like she thought it was suddenly going to have some kind of effect on how he saw her.

While Chair was admittedly a far cry from the muscular long limbed females he was usually attracted to, with her soft curves and full figure he more than liked the way she looked, and he was male enough to admit it. Not that he was only attracted to her physically , If that had been the case he would have been content to leave things as they were between them, but it wasn't- there was just something about the plucky dancer that he couldn't really put into words, that had drawn him almost from the very beginning.

But while there were a lot of things he noticed about her and made little mental notes about to file away for later, not once had her weight ever factored into anything for him, and he really didn't understand why she seemed so worried about it. Heck compared to him she was a bit on the small side which he found a little worrisome for a few reasons he really wasn't ready to think too hard on as of yet…

. Modo refocused his full attention back to Chair once more as she turned to face him and tugged nervously at the bottom of the thigh length tunic top she was wearing. "Well I'm sure it's obvious to everyone, including you that I'm not exactly a twig." she said with an almost false brightness in her voice pausing briefly before continuing "I know your aware I'm not just big boned here…in fact the three letters used most often to describe me in high school were F.A. and T" Chair said her teasing tone at odds with the faint trace of hurt hiding under the words.

Modo stood quietly as he took in her statement unsure exactly how to respond to her out of the blue self directed attack…But now that he thought about it this wasn't the first time Chair had made comments along these particular lines about herself and Modo was starting to realize that when she was nervous or uncomfortable …she had a tendency to go on an odd sort of defensive, were she would start throwing out a stream of self aimed barbs that she barley coated with a touch of skewed humor. Although this was by far the most vehement she'd ever been about it, since he'd known her.

"No your…" Modo started to say wanting to head her off before she could add anymore, only to have his response cut off by Chairs own. "What? You want to pretty it up a bit?" She gestured vaguely towards herself as she went on "-Chunky? Plump?".

"Perfect." Modo interjected firmly as he meet her startled gaze. Chair froze mid word and simply gazed up at him her eyes widening. Modo shifted uncomfortably as Chair just stood there staring at him in silence her stunned expression reminding him a bit of a deer in the headlights as he waited for her response.

"Modo what are we?"

Caught off guard by the unexpected question Modo found himself experiencing his own moment of surprise, as he stood starring down into Chairs unsure and tense expression. Before the odd brand of humor that was natural to him and his bro's showed its self long enough, to help lighten the moment, as he replied, a playful smile quirking up the corners of his mouth as he finally answered

"well…I'm a Martian Mouse and you're a female earthling." He teased breaking off on a low chuckle as Chair glared at him irritably and gave him a light pop on the arm for his trouble.

"No" she grumbled, fidgeting nervously as she went on. "What I mean is…what are we?-are we just..friends or-what I'm trying to say is..Gad! I'm really not good at explaining this stuff!...Its just..I've been getting some mixed signals lately and I just wanted to know… what exactly we are in relation to each other…"She murmured in a low voice almost whispering the last part as she glanced back up to meet his gaze once more before falling silent.

Modo experienced a rush of nervousness himself as he took in Chairs response. Despite the fact that he had more or less been trying to lead up to a conversation along these lines for awhile now. Realizing she was still waiting for him to say something. "What do you want us to be?" He finally managed watching the play of emotions that danced across her features.

Chair opened then closed her mouth a moment as she looked up at him before finally answering. "I like us as friends." Modo tensed fighting the spike of disappointment that passed through him before she went on "but I'm open to there being more-between us…if you are."

Modo stood silently for a moment as his brain processed the last part of what she had just said, A smile splitting his face as the meaning behind her words finally sank in. His tail moving almost as if it had a mind of his own to pull her against him his hands joining it as he was struck by an almost euphoric sense of relief.

"I'm definitely open to more." He replied thickly his voice deepening as he stared down at her with a feeling of elation as she gazed back at him. Modo could probably have happily stood exactly like that, the rest of the morning,

but after a bit Chair shifted restlessly in his grip, scrunching her nose up. "Alright…now what?" she asked letting out a small puff of air that ruffled the small handful of hairs that had made their way loose from the bun she'd previously had them secured in.

Taken off guard Modo fumbled for a response "well…?" he trailed off as he failed to come up with one.

"Well…What?" Chair asked the hint of amusement that filled her gaze at odds with her dry tone.

(Well Mama did also say honesties often the best policy) he thought ruefully as he stared down at her

"Honestly I haven't thought that far ahead." He finally answered truthfully, hunching his shoulders slightly in a shrug a chagrinned smile just turning up the edges of his mouth up.

Chairs eyes twinkled with humor as she started to open her mouth to respond, just as the faint scent of shampoo mixed with wet fur reached his nose. Followed almost immediately by Vinnie's voice clearly cutting through the room.

"You're supposed to kiss her dumbass!"

Chair startled in his grip and whipped her head around to stare in the white furred male's direction, Modo could almost feel the annoyed scowl spreading across his face as he fought against the urge to tighten his hold on her, to keep her in place so she wouldn't dart off on him prematurely again at his youngest bro's most recent interruption.

Modo leveled a seething look in Vinnie's direction to vexed at having another personal moment with Chair (awkward as it might have been at that very instance) disrupted by the white furred male to do more than give his state of dress..or undress in this case more than a cursory acknowledgment.

But even as irritated, as he currently was he had always believed in giving those who managed to find themselves on his bad side, the glimmer of a chance to get away, and seeing as Vin was one of his best and oldest friends, he figured aatthe very least he owed the other mouse the benefit of a head start.

"Vinnie I swear I don't even care why the hell your naked-but you have three seconds to leave before I shoot you starting..now." He said watching as the realization that he might have over stepped play across his white furred Bro's face as Modo's own disgruntled expression and tone of voice clued him into the fact that the grey furred male was at least halfway serious about his threat, even before he raised and aimed his arms laser canon for added emphasis.

"Whoa there-" Vin started his eyes widening in surprise as he lifted his arms up slightly and slowly took a step behind him. "Well I can see your busy-so I'll just be—Ack!" wanting to get back to the conversation with Chair or at least the equivalent of one he'd been having with her and, Knowing Vinnie's penchant for drawing things out, and not really in the mood to wait for him to make it through his usual long windedness. Modo fired a quick but carefully aimed shot off to the side to put a halt to his rambling and hurry him along in his exit.

Giving a startled cry the white furred mouse quickly leapt back through the doorway. The towel clad male's barely audible mutter of "Cheez Bro -I can take a hint." Just carrying back to Modo's ears as he lowered his arm back down.

"You realize Charley's going to be pissed you just put another hole in her wall..Right?" Chair asked amusement threading her voice as she meet his gaze once more.

Modo gave a small snort the corners of his mouth twisting down in annoyance as he replied, his response laced with bleak humor. "Trust me she'd have been madder if I actually gave into temptation and put one in Vin instead."

Although now that the topic of kissing had been put out there…he had to admit the idea held merit... and now that he was thinking about it he found the desire to do just that holding the foremost position in his mind. "I think he had a point though. Modo said absently voicing the thought.

Hearing Chair suck in a sharp breath Modo realized he'd spoken out loud and quickly looked down to take in her reaction.

"I'm not sure about full blown kissing just yet..I wasn't even sure you guys did..Kiss that is—but I guess since he mentioned it..you do?..Uh –well-that is..what I mean is-do you? Chair half Stammered in an agitated rush her, eyes darting down briefly towards his mouth then back up to meet his gaze, Modo slowly blinked as he tried to follow the broken stream of dialogue. "Do we what?" he finally asked with a mix of befuddled exasperation.

Chair fidgeted nervously in his grasp, Her expressive face suddenly taking on a decidedly Rosy hue as she answered her voice so low he could barely hear it. "Do you kiss?"

Modo was taken by surprise for all of an instant, but quickly realized that deliberate or not Chair had just given him the opening he had been hoping for and without concise thought he found himself lowering his head down. Watching her eyes go wide as he neared but a split second before his mouth brushed hers, the sound of Throttles voice rang through the air effectively ruining the moment. "Vincent…why the hell are you naked?"

A dull throb started up behind Modo's eye as Vinnie's petulant response carried to their ears from right outside the doors he'd only recently exited through clueing him in on the fact that the white furred male had more than likely still been listening in on him and Chair, releasing a frustrated grumble Modo tuned out the rest of the two mice's conversation as he straightened back up. Figuring the intimate moment between them was a lost cause at this point, he hesitantly allowed his hands and tail slide away from around Chairs waist.

(Oh Mama can't a mouse catch a break) he thought irritably reaching up to rub absently at the back of his neck while muttering a few choice comments about his Bro's poor timing. His annoyed tirade was brought to an abrupt halt though, as the substantially shorter female suddenly grabbed him by the face and yanked him towards her.

Off balance Modo had just enough time to register the look of determination that flitted across her face right before she locked her mouth against his, and his ability form fully coherent thoughts temporally flew out the window.

Flinching slightly as his teeth clicked against hers at the first initial contact, Modo angled his head a bit more to the side; afraid he might accidently catch one of her lips with the jagged edge his chipped tooth if he wasn't carful. Modo released a muffled groan in the back of his throat as the new angle allowed them to deepen the kiss, Despite that he wasn't deliberately trying to read her the faint echo of what Chair was feeling filtered through to him further adding to sensations and emotions he was already experiencing.

The feeling of her desire tinged with something deeper mixed with his own , and he was struck by the sudden need to increase the contact between them, and without concise thought he found himself lifting her up into his arms, to hold her against him.

Just as caught up in the moment as the grey furred male was, Chair offered no protest, merely making a faint whimpering sound, as she wrapped her arms and legs around him, all the while continuing to maintain the contact between their mouths.

The rampant kiss lasted a few more minutes, until they both finally pulled back gasping brokenly for air. Her chest still heaving with the effort to pull in oxygen Chair grinned up at him a second before she closed her eyes and tucked her head under his chin. "Well..I guess..t-that answers…that question" she gasped out between breaths, leaning back just enough to meet his gaze again.

"Modo?" Chair queried after a few seconds had passed, a trace of humor creeping into her tone as she regarded him in bemusement.

Modo simply stared back at her and made a inarticulate noise in response, subconsciously tugging her closer to him, his brain still a bit to overwhelmed from the lingering sensation of their combined emotions for him to do much more than stand there.

"You can put me down now" She stated impishly her lips turning up in an amused smile.

Chairs playful tone coupled with the repetition of her words from the start of their conversation managed to pull him the rest of the way his befuddled state causing the grey furred male to grin as he answered in kind "And if I don't want to" he asked

Chair started to reply right as the high pitched ring of the garages phone split the air. Modo moaned in frustrated annoyance at this finale disruption, while wondering what in name of mars he had done to earn this kind of twisted karma.

Gently pressing his forehead to Chairs for an instant, he fought the urge that came over him to actually shoot the old rotary phone, knowing that an action like that would land him in hot water with Charley for sure.

Modo finally lowered Chair to the floor as the piercing sound of the phones ringing started over once more, The slight tickling feeling of Chair softly running her hand along his arm, helping to pull him from his inner musings about murdering the telephone, as he glanced down to meet her rueful expression before she turned quickly to head in the direction of the still ringing phone.

Modo continued to watch her as she glanced back at him for a split second mouthing the word sorry over her shoulder while simultaneously picking up the receiver.

Despit his elation at how things had worked out between him and Chair a spike of unease still pierced him as his mind briefly touched back on the lingering fragments of his nightmare from the previous evening. Sending an icy chill through his heart, as the haunting image of her unnaturally still form, and blood soaked curls floated to the top of his thoughts.

Modo may have only had one functioning eye but that didn't mean he was blind to the fact that, just being around him and his Bro's placed Chair in potential danger. But in a way that was true for any of their friends and allies Charley, Manual, Chef Andy, Four-by even the orphans were at risk by default on that scale.

Really being affiliated with him and his Bro's to any degree held a certain amount of danger for just about everyone they meet…

But… Modo also knew that if he let the fear of being close to anyone take over and always pushed them away and distanced himself … then there stood a good chance that…eventually he would become so emotionally closed off, that he really would be no better than the cold- hearted machine Karbunkle had tried to turn him into. He thought grimly as his gaze shifted from Chair's animated form down to his metallic arm as he lifted it slightly and slowly formed the unfeeling digits into a fist.

"Not trying to ruin the moment but if you two love birds plan on joining us for breakfast you may wanna shake a leg before all the grubs gone." Throttle suddenly yelled out from the other room.

A small frission of relief passed through the grey furred male as his Bro's voice cut into the moroseness of his current thoughts and pulled him back to the present,

Even as he fought the urge to roll his eye at the irony of having the tan mouse act almost apologetic for possibly butting in on his and Chairs private moment well after it had already been disrupted several times over, no thanks to him and Vin both.

Modo briefly toyed with idea of giving his Bro's a little deliberate payback in the future when they we're with their own respective ladies, but in the end decided against it, figuring that it would probably just wrack him up another hefty karma fine of some sort.

" Be there N' a sec Bro" He called back, glancing back in Chairs direction in time to see her setting the old phones receiver back in its cradle before she turned to face him an almost shy smile on her face as she looked back at him, Before she spoke apparently having heard Throttle as well.

"You know surprisingly enough, this morning's mad ride of death and my stomachs less than pleasant reaction aside. I actually could go for something a little more filling myself." Chair said, pausing a moment before nodding in the direction of the small plate of apple slice's "Not that I didn't appreciate the thoughtfulness, behind sending out my favorite food and all."

"Thank you" She added with a small blush reaching up to brush absently again, at the stray wisps of hair that had escaped the confines of artfully styled bun. Modo blinked as he realized for the first time that something actually looked different about her hair this morning…although he couldn't quite place what it was. It looked nice though, but then she always looked beautiful to him, even when she was what, she had once referred to as a haphazard mess.

The image of Chair in the kitchen the previous day after their play fight, her hair wildly disheveled, chest rising rapidly as she heaved in breaths and her eyes snapping with temper, while she glared up at him, flashed through his mind. Make that more than beautiful he thought wryly as he shifted suddenly a bit uncomfortable for reasons he figured he'd be better off not dwelling on to closely at the moment.

A faint flush creeping up the sides of his neck and across his cheeks at the stray direction his thoughts had suddenly taken Modo flinched and cleared his throat a second before replying.

"You're welcome. But Throttles right and we'd best get in there… or all that'll be left for us is the clean up." He added gesturing in the direction of the doors with a rueful smile.

"Ok then…You go on, ahead and I'll be along in a sec. I just need to write something down real quick for Charley so I don't forget it." Chair said turning to scrounge around on the desk for a pen and paper. "Go on-I'll be right behind you." She added motioning him on when he hesitated mid way towards the doors.

At her insistent urging Modo reluctantly left room ahead of her, with the thought that he could at least make her a plate before the pickings got to slim.

However all food related thoughts came an immediate stop, the instant he cleared the Garage's kitchen entrance and caught sight of his youngest Bro. And it suddenly occurred to the grey furred male, as he felt more than heard Chair come up behind him, that perhaps the forces that governed the universal laws for Karma weren't quite as upset with him as he'd initially thought.


	13. [(Real mice wear…uh?)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (W.W.T.) here again , I had actually planned to try and get two chapters out last month, but do to a very big family emergency and everything that went with it didn't happen. Although while it did take a bit I did at least manage to finish this one up. It's just a short humorous and light hearted piece; I intend to do more between Modo and Chair in the next Chapter. I mostly just had some fun at poor Vinnie's expense in this one, but with the way things are currently going my life needed a little comic relief, (as well as a little more Charley and Vinnie interaction). I also figured Vin was do a bit of cosmic pay back for all the times he's interrupted Modo and Chairs intimate moments so far. ;-)With that addressed, please enjoy the next chapter of Mars need mates.
> 
> There's also a small fanart I did of Vinnie up on my D.A if anyone's interested (same user name as here except with - for the spaces .)
> 
> Disclaimer: You know it I know it do I really need to say it? Well just in case the Biker mice from mars are not mine but My Oc Chair and the idea for this story itself are.

Chair jotted down a hasty reminder for Charley to call back one of the parts dealers that she regularly ordered from. Then turned to head after Modo, only a few feet behind him as he passed through the doors to the kitchen.

Hurrying to catch up Chair hastened her step only to come to a screeching halt the very next instant as she nearly ran face first into the large Martians broad back as he suddenly came to a dead stop just inside the doorway.

Startled Chair took a step back but the confusion she was feeling rapidly shifted to concern as Modo's tail slowly started to twitch like mad, followed by an almost imperceptible tremor that started at his shoulders, then quickly spread through the rest of his massive frame until his whole body was moving in an oddly stiff, jerking spasm.

Even more concerned than before Chair pushed around him so she could see his face, but before she could ask what in the world was wrong, she caught a glimpse of something from the corner of her eye that had her freezing in place as well.

All worry for the grey furred male temporarily forgotten, Chair slowly turned to fully take in the unexpected sight of Vinnie. Who currently stood in the middle of the kitchen, with his back to them oblivious to their prescience, while he carried on a very animated and agitated conversation with their resident Auburn hared mechanic.

There was a very small array of strange things that might have randomly appeared at that moment and honestly surprised Chair a little less then what she was currently seeing…Like oh for instance say- (A kangaroo riding a unicorn and wielding a light saber.)

But the sight of the exuberantly macho White mouse wearing a pair of bright neon pink glittery sweat pants, with a humongous red sequined coated heart right smack dab on the bottom with the words sweet cheeks scrawled above it in rhinestones, took the proverbial cake.

The addition of his tail coming through a hole in the center of the heart, somehow only served to place that much more emphasis on it, and make the sight that much more ridicules to behold.

To her credit Chair actually managed to hold herself together …for about all of… five seconds.

That is until she made the mistake of glancing back at the grey furred male behind her, briefly locking and holding gazes with him for a millisecond before they both completely lost it, and burst out into hysterical laughter.

.

Vinnie jerked as if he'd suddenly been electrocuted at the outburst, and whipped around to glare in their direction. Narrowing his eyes in irritation at them a moment, before turning back around to once more face Charley.

"See! This is exactly what I was talking about!" he said with an exaggerated sweep of his arm in Chair and Modo's direction. Who were both currently leaned up against each other in the doorway and laughing like loons.

"Look I'm sorry –but I don't currently have any of your spare clothes here, and I couldn't find anything else that would actually fit you…So your just gonna have to suck it up and deal with it."Charley said glaring right back at him before turning and attempting to lift a heaping platter of scrambled eggs, sausage links and bacon off the counter.

Only to have it tugged from her hands by the white furred male, who continued to mutter and complain under his breath the entire time, even as he placed it in the center of the table, and flopped down into nearest seat with an indignant huff his expression sour.

"Oh quite being such a man baby about it."Charley huffed back in annoyance at him, gingerly sitting down in the seat beside him.

Vinnie crossed his arms and slumped back further in his seat while wrinkling his nose at her "I'm not a man I'm a mouse." he grumbled flatly.

"You know what I meant," Charley said shooting an exasperated glance at him. "And you should consider yourself lucky I even had those, or you'd be dinning ala commode on a tv tray right now, waiting for your pants to dry." She added tersely.

Chair clutched at her aching ribs at this and managed to heave in a wheezing breath as she pushed away from the grey furred males' side, somehow finding a modicum of control before she laughed herself into asphyxia.

Choking down another laugh, she walked over to sit across from the auburn haired female followed closely by a still snickering Modo.

"Not that I'm questioning your taste in clothes or anything. But-why do you have those? I might be wrong, but they don't really strike me as something that you would wear yourself." She asked interrupting before the white furred Martian could respond again.

"They're not." Charley answered, still watching Vinnie out of the corner of her eye. "I bought them a couple years back as a gage gift for my Ex, for a white elephant gift exchange he roped me into going to, and to be honest I had forgotten all about them. Until I ran across them, inside an old box I'd thrown a handful of items into, to donate to charity.

"Wait! These crimes against masculinity belonged to Jack? That just makes it even worse! There's no way you can expect me to keep wearing these!" Vinnie said crossly his face twisting into a disgusted grimace.

" Oh! For crying out loud! Would you give it a rest already- They were never used! Besides ..it's wear those or go naked." Charley retorted "and No! That's not actually an option." She quickly added, as the white furred mouse opened his mouth, cutting him off before he could say anything else.

Vinnie harrumphed under his breath and turned to glower sulkily down at his plate, completely missing the amused and affection laden expression that had briefly flitted across Charley's face as she watched him out of the corner of her eye before turning away.

Her own lips twitching up at the edges Chair leaned forward to start helping to put the food on the plates when it dawned on her that there was something..or more precisely someone missing. "Hey-where's Throttle? I thought he made it in here ahead of us." she asked glancing around curiously.

"Huh? Oh! He's fine-He just stepped out for some air." Charley replied an amused glint in her eye, as she placed Vinnie's full plate down in front of him. "Really?... Why?"Chair asked in surprise.

"Because I came back into the room-In these." Vinnie stated dryly, before shoveling a forkful of eggs into his mouth.

"Oh!" Chair replied with sudden understanding, smothering a grin as she set a full plate down in front of Modo. Who broke out in another round of chuckle's as the white furred Martian looked up from his plate to level a murderous glare in his direction.

"Oh put a cork in it." Vinnie growled while narrowing his gaze at him, before dropping it back down to stare sullenly at his plate once more.

"Sure thing…"Modo said giving a nonchalant shrug, completely nonplussed by the other male's irritable demeanor."Sweet cheeks." he tacked on with a grin, dodging the forkful of eggs (complete with fork) the white furred male immediately hurled in his direction.

"Hey-Not in the kitchen! The coffee tables already been reduced to kindling. There's no way, you're doing the same thing to the dining room one too!"Charley bit out tersely swinging her own fork up, and gesturing pointedly in each mouse's direction, while narrowing her eyes in warning at them both.

"Sorry."Modo said his face twisting with effort as he attempted and failed to smother another chuckle.

Vinnie just glowered over at him looking as if he was still seriously considering hurling the rest of his plate at the grey furred male anyway, before he chanced a quick glance in auburn haired mechanics direction. Who merely raised one eyebrow inquiringly back at him in challenge, before nonchalantly lifting up a piece of bacon, and snapping it in two, as she pointedly locked her gaze with his.

Thinking better of whatever he had previously been contemplating Vinnie swallowed nervously, before his eyes once more shifted back to Modo who continued to grin tauntingly in his direction, Grinding his teeth audibly at this the white furred Martian suddenly turned and pushed away from the table,

muttering something about eating in the living room, as he stood plate in hand and marched out of the room, his tail whipping irritably behind him as he stormed out.

Eliciting another burst of startled laughter from Chair, as the sunlight filtering in from the small window above the sink, bounced off the glittering surface of his heart covered posterior, and created a disco ball like effect, as he exited the room.

Not even a full minute later a sound that might have passed for a husky throated hyena choking to death on a golf ball, emitted from the vicinity of the garages living room.

Followed very closely by a rather squishy sounding thud, and Vinnie letting loose an almost indecipherable string of words in what Chair assumed was Martian. That caused Modo's ears to twitch and his eye to widen slightly in surprise as he glanced sharply in the direction the white furred male had just gone.

A short period later a slightly ruffled looking Throttle appeared outlined in the doorway, an empty plate gripped in one hand, and a mass of scrambled eggs splattered along the top of his head, and trailing down the side of his face.

Clearing his throat the tan furred male paused just inside the door, somehow maintaining a straight expression as he reached up to casually flick a particularly large glob of egg from his cheek, while addressing the room's occupants.

"Charley I believe I'm just going to grab a bite to go this morning."

" Modo.. Bro-" Throttle added pausing to clear his throat again as he glanced briefly between the grey furred male and Chair with what might have been a touch of remorse before continuing. " I know Vin's supposed to be the one to head out on patrol with me this morning but... I think –given the current circumstances.. and his current mood …it might be for the best if you two switched out for the day."

Modo snorted "I don't know bro, you sure you've really thought this through? He asked his tone serious as he met the Mouse leaders questioning gaze, before continuing. "I mean-we could defeat limburgers whole goon squad in just one fell swoop here, all we'd have to do is show up with Vin in the lead…and they'd drop dead laughing." He said the corners of his mouth starting to twitch with the effort of keeping a straight face, as he continued to hold gazes with the tan furred male.

Throttle snorted at this and reached up to slap a hand over his eyes as he lost the composure he'd been hanging onto by a thread, slumping heavily against the doorframe as his expression twisted into an almost constipated grimace, while he fought the urge to start laughing again, completely aware that if he did it would take a miracle or un-conciseness to stop him this time.

A few minutes later, after the tawny furred Martian had excited the kitchen to head back out to the garage, Modo stood to leave the room as well, having rapidly polished off the rest of his own food in a few quick bites. Pausing he glanced across the table, his tail moving up beneath it to gently brush against the side of Chair's calf, as his gaze meet with hers in a silent apology.

Chair gave him an understanding smile even as her heart dipped sadly at the necessity of his leaving so soon after things had finally started to come together for them. Modo's tail gave a soft squeeze, as he excused himself before slowly unwinding from around her ankle, as he turned to follow after the tan furred male. Leaving the two female's to finish the rest of their meal together at a slightly more sedate pace.

"You know.. That Kinda Sounds like something you might run across on a tabloid news paper headline. Chair suddenly commented out loud absently, as the muffled sound of the two male's bikes pulling out of the garage filtered through the walls to them. Seeing Charley look up to stare curiously in her direction she paused a moment as she contemplated how to put her thoughts into words.

"Mass of Untimely deaths caused by six foot tall space mouse's… Pink Sparkling Butt."She said with a small shrug, causing the auburn haired mechanic to startle and cough forcefully as she fought not to choke on the mouthful of eggs she'd just taken, before narrowing her eyes fractionally to glare over at the other female in bemused ire.

"You ok? Chair asked in concern stopping with a forkful of food lifted midway towards her mouth.

"What?" she asked blankly, noticing the odd look the red head was giving her, as she managed to bring the erratic bought of coughing under control.

Not even a full second later a startled and rather indignant sounding yelp filled the room, as- unlike Modo with Vinnie, Chair failed to dodge forkful of eggs that Charley launched her way.

A short while later (After she had finished picking the remainder of the scrambled eggs from her hair) Chair was just finishing up rescheduling one of Charley's regular clients for a basic tune up the following month. When Vinnie made his way into the room still wearing the pink atrocities that some fashion challenged individual somewhere, had the twisted inclination to dream up and try to shape into pants.

Biting her lip against the urge to start laughing again, at the sight of the white furred male and his bedazzled-bum, she quickly ended the call and hung up the phone.

"Modo went with Throttle to do a quick morning patrol" Chair said noticing the slightly puzzled look on his face as he paused and glanced around the garage.

"Oh…uh" Vinnie said glancing over at her with a touch of surprise before his expression shifted back to one of irritation.

"Great! Like it's not bad enough that I've been forced to dress in these girly monstrosities. Now you're telling me that they actually went off and left me out of the action to like I'm one of the wo-"Vinnie stopped in the middle of his rant as Chair loudly cleared her throat and leveled a withering look in his direction.

"Ah-no offense."He finished hunching his shoulders sheepishly .Chair snorted her lips twitching marginally before she answered. "Eh..Don't sweat it- sweet cheeks." she said, turning away and pretending not to notice the sour look he gave her, While she scanned the shelves until her gaze once more found the box of parts she'd been after earlier that morning.

"You're actually here just in time to help me out…that is unless like your sugary and sweet disposition, those awful excuse for pants have affected your ability to be taller than me too."."Chair said with a touch of sarcasm as she glanced back at him over her shoulder,

"Can you get that down for me-please?" she added with a small gesture in the boxes direction, when she noticed the blank look that appeared on the white furred males face at her first statement.

Vinnie looked above where Chair was currently standing the confusion on his face quickly clearing as his gaze landed on the box in question. "You know you could have just said that in the first place" He muttered with a small roll of his eyes as he walked around her.

Chair fought the urge to roll her eyes right back, at the white mouse as he brushed passed her reaching up and easily sliding the bulky cardboard container off the shelf to present to her one handed.

"Show off." she said wryly shaking her head with a bemused smile as she took it from him.

" Comes naturally with all the good looks and Charm" he replied with a playful wink, giving her one of his trade mark flirty smirks as he started back towards the doors to the garages main living area.

Another rather inelegant snort breaking from her at the White furred Martians usual flirtatious behavior, Chair grinned and shook her head in wry amusement as she watched him exit back through doors once more.

. "You know-I gotta hand it to him …It takes a pretty high level of confidence to still be able to pull off being that full of yourself- when wearing pants like those." She muttered with a small laugh as the garage lights gleamed off the white mouse's sequined dairy-air on his way out of the room, flashing and winking in a wildly sparkling array of rainbow colors.

The rest of the morning pretty much passed like normal, With the exception of one small hitch in the form of the early appearance of one D Manibus (Aka Sir Hands), While Throttle was still out with Modo.

Fortunately for Chair she had stepped out to use the bathroom a few minutes before he entered the garage. Unfortunately Charley had been bent part way over the desk finishing up a phone conversation with the supplier that had needed to have her call back. When he had let himself in, then walked across the room unannounced and proceeded to let his hand wander right up the unaware mechanics backside, in plain view of Vinnie. Who had been followed closely by Chair as she returned to the room as well.

Both of who not realizing anyone else was in the garage had entered just in time to see a very irate and startled Charley spin around to club (the apparently memory challenged groper.) upside the head with the old fashioned (and rather sturdily made) phones receiver.

(You know… when my guidance counselor told me in high school, that it was unlikely any of us would be able to predict exactly what our lives would be like in ten years…. she was right. )Chair thought ruefully not even a full minute later, as she took in the escalating scene before her.

As Charley alternated hurling a slew of excessively graphic bodily threats at the opportunistic pervert, before shouting at Vinnie not to beat him to pulp, as the White furred male somehow cleared the room in one quick leap to haul, the still dazed and reeling Mr. Manibus up by the back of the shirt collar, and shake him like an angry terrier. While growling out that 'he wasn't going to beat the seedy little jerk-just break every bone in his body.'

Chair watched the rather stunned looking man (whether from the blow to the head or the appearance of a six foot tall talking mouse with antennas in hot pink sweat pants she wasn't completely sure) take on an unusually pale waxy complexion,

A few seconds before he released an almost incomprehensible string of babble that included the phrase 'Giant Shiny pink Hamster', followed by his eyes rolling up into the back of his head, as he wet his pants and passed out.

Vinnie scrunched his noise in disgust at this, and without further ceremony released him to drop into limp heap on the floor. Charley briefly studied the slumped form crumpled at the irate Martians feet in dismay, before lifting her gaze to meet Chair's in a shared what the hell do we do now look.

"Geeze that's pathetic … now I almost feel ba-Ouch! –What!?" Vinnie asked glancing over at Charley with apparent confusion as she released a small exasperated noise of frustration and smacked him in the arm, then reached up to rub at the bridge of her noise as if she was fighting the sudden onset of a migraine.

It probably didn't say much for her own morale fiber but Chair honestly couldn't bring herself to drum up much in the way of sympathy for the overly grabby sleaze, but his current state, plus the fact that he'd seen Vinnie up close and very personal without his helmet on, left them with a very big problem to try and sort out.

Mulling over what to do her gaze strayed from the prone form, to the corner of the desk where she'd placed the parts after Vinnie had gotten them down for her. The barest inklings of a plan began to take shape, as she looked back at the unconscious male still sprawled in a heap on the floor.

"I think…I have an idea." Chair said out loud drawing the attention of the other two garage occupants as they broke off from their half whispered argument to stare at her in surprise, having apparently forgotten she was even in the room with them.

A half hour later Chair ushered the confused and still slightly twitchy Manibus, back towards the garage doors. Having with the help of Charley convinced the (thankfully shorter than Vinnie) man that he had gotten impatient while waiting for her to find the step ladder to retrieve the box of parts from the top shelf for him, and had attempted to get it down himself.

By climbing up on the bottom portion of the shelving unite, only to have it break under his weight, causing him to fall and strike his head on one of the multitude of objects that had spilled across the floor alongside him.

After which he had temporarily become incoherent, and had started to babble oddly about (Giant hamsters?) of all things. Charley and Chair both expressed serious concern over this and strongly urged him to see a doctor about the blow he'd taken to his skull, and had even gone so far as to offer to call a cab to take him to the hospital.

He firmly declined the offer, His eyes darting nervously around the room, before he seemed to realize the new dampness of his previously dry wardrobe. Glancing down at his pants in surprise, his expression quickly shifted to mortification as He mumbled a very hasty excuse, and almost ran out of the door.

A few minutes later after double checking to make sure he was really gone Chair heaved a sigh, and turned to share a relieved grin with Charley. "Well…that was relatively easy." She said with a touch of dry humor as she met the mechanics gaze.

Charley just snorted blandly, and reached up to press her palm to her forehead. "You have Nooo Idea…." the green eyed mechanic replied shooting a rueful glance in the direction of the doors leading to the garage's den(or more precisely the edge of one white ear that could just be seen around the side of the door frame from where they were currently standing.

"I swear if Murphy had ever met this lot.. he would have considered himself an optimist."She muttered shaking her head, her expression and tone caught somewhere between affection and vexation.

A disconcerted and grumbled "Who's Murphy?" could just be made out from the other room as the two females shared another telling glance. That ended with Chair suddenly reaching up a hand to stifle a half snorted giggle, as the auburn haired mechanic's gaze rolled skyward, her lips twitching up into a reluctant smile.

"Well one thing's for certain." Charley said motioning for Chair to follow her towards the garages living area with a small nod of her head, reaching out a hand to pat her on the back as they both started in the direction of the door leading out of the garage's main work area.

"Life with this bunch is rarely boring."


	14. (Of Love, War and Starships)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys!( W.W.T) here again It's been a bit since I've updated. Life kind of kicked me in the proverbial crotch and it took me a bit to get back in the saddle, but It feels good to be writing again. A bit like stretching the kinks out of my back after taking a long car trip... a Very long car tripe With a car full of people I wouldn't want to go on a two minute journey with let alone a several month's long one But all the personal drama in my life aside I'm finally Back. (Yay!) Although before I go any further with this, I'd like to leave a very special acknowledgment and Thank You to My dear Friend YouKai55. Who has helped me get through some very trying times during the last few months of my life, and has continued to be there for me.(I honestly don't know what i would have done with out you.) I would also like to give a shout out to Onxy13 and Wanda Farmer as well as a few anonymous others for spurring me on by asking for updates. And a Big Thank you for Sushan for emailing me a reminder to take some of the more negative reviews with a grain of salt.(I needed that.) Sometimes it's easy to forget that for every flower that crops up in the review mound. There's also a sprinkling of manure scattered through out the pile so best not to leap into it face first and roll around, Unless your looking to get smeared with a handful of crap. On the bright side crap makes good fertilizer and if used properly a few good things can spring up from it. Sometimes you just have to weed through the lot and pick and choose what you want to take from it, Enjoy the positive where you find it and try not to take any of the negative stuff to personally. Now that all of that's out of the way Please enjoy the next chapter of Mars needs mates.
> 
> Disclaimer: Let's face it folks if I owned them Vinnie and Charley would have been as all over each other as the sensors would have allowed at the time, as well as married before the end of the second season, And Modo and Throttle would have been well on their way to being hitched before things were said and done as well, but Just to be on the safe side. Bmfm not mine,This Story itself and the Oc's within it however are. I make no Money from this Zip,Nadda,Zero and it is for fun and entertainment purposes only.

Even though they'd only been gone on patrol for a few hours Modo felt a surge of impatience to see Chair again as they reached the familiar section of street leading up to the last chance. That had him revving Hoss's engine and pulling slightly ahead of the tan furred male beside him as the garage finally came into view. "Feeling a little eager to get back Bro?" Throttle called after him with a chuckle , a knowing smile spreading across his face.

Modo just grinned as he glanced over his shoulder at the remark unruffled at his Bro's teasing "Can you blame me? I've got some pretty good and very pretty incentive waiting for me today." He called back before looking down sharply in surprise as Hoss gave a low discontented sounding rumble at the statement as they tore down the short stretch of asphalt leading up to the last chance.

"Now don't you go frettin' none darlin' –this mouse has more than enough room in his life for two pretty Ladies"." Modo soothed chuckling softly as he gave the slightly jealous bike a reassuring pat, as they pulled up in front of the last chance slowing just long enough for the garages automatic door to lift enough for him and Hoss to clear it.

Modo glanced around the garages interior as he brought the AI infused bike to stop just inside the doors and quickly dismounted. Reaching up he removed his helmet and glanced around the running his left hand over his freshly freed antennas as they sprang up in relief. His mind distractedly registered the sound of Throttle pulling into the garage behind him. His wandering gaze briefly coming to rest on his Youngest Bro, were he was currently leaned up against Chair's desk talking with her and Charley. Once more dressed in his usual attire, Before finally settling on the small curvy female standing behind the desk.

Modo grinned as he made his way over to the group, "Aw-and you looked so colorful and pretty too-You know I think you should make glitter a part of your everyday wear Bro."He drawled with a chuckle unable to resist the urge to rib the white furred male a little more.

Hardee-Har Har- laugh it up… You know I've gotta pretty colorful suggestion for that helmet of yours." Vinnie shot back dryly making a rather crude Martian hand gesture in his direction, out of direct sight of the women.

Modo snorted in amusement at the action as his gaze moved past the white furred male to meet Chairs sea green eyes as he absently replied "Come on now not around the ladies- your Mama raised you better."

Vinnie's humorous expression shifted at the comment, his mouth thinning into a tight lipped smile that lacked its usual light hearted edge. "No Bro-I think that would be your Mother your thinking of." He answered the comment ringing oddly flat despite the flipness of his response.

Modo suppressed a flinch at his own misstep and reached up to rub awkwardly at the back of his neck. He knew better than most that you didn't bring another mouse's Mama into things, and given his youngest bro's history he also knew he'd more than just brushed a nerve for him.

Charley glanced sharply between the two mice immediately picking up on Vinnie's sudden shift in demeanor along with the tension that had replaced the playful vibe from moments before."Vin..You know I didn't mea-" Modo started, as Throttle moved up beside him. "Its fine." Vinnie said cutting him off as he pushed away from the desk and headed out of the room.

"Hey wait a second what's wro- Ouwff!" Charley said starting after the white furred Martian only to come to sudden stop as Throttles tail wound through one of the loops on her belt holding her in place.

"You know one of the gyro's on Lady sounded like it might be working itself loose again- you wouldn't mind giving her a quick once over would you Charley Girl? " Throttle asked heading off the Auburn haired female's immediate protest, Sparring a quick glance in Modo's direction out of the corner of his eye as he tugged the still protesting mechanic closer, and draped an arm around her shoulders to steer her in the opposite direction from the one the younger Martian male had just taken.

Modo's ears dipped back uncomfortably, not really needing to make out the look in the other males eyes to pick up on the hint of silent reproach that had been hidden behind the dark green tint of the tan furred Martians field specs.

"What just happened?" Chair asked baffled as she glanced in the direction the white furred male had just gone, then back after the retreating duo.

"I went and stuck my big ole foot in my mouth is what happened." He muttered closing his eye and reaching up to rub at the back of one ear, breathing out on a low sigh as he set his helmet down to rest on top of a stack of files on the desk, and turned to face the curly haired female standing next to it."I hit a sore spot." He added noticing the puzzled look that had appeared on Chairs face at his statement. "What do you mean?" She said looking up at him in confusion.

"I brought up his Mother." Modo replied absently his tail swishing agitatedly around his feet as his gaze strayed towards the door the white furred male had disappeared through with a touch of regret."Why would that upset him?" Chair asked, her continued bafflement at his answer apparent on her features.

Modo was hesitant to say anymore on the matter seeing as it wasn't strictly his to be sharing…but Chair was a part of their group now and she had more than proven herself trust worthy since they'd first meet. Besides from the sound of things on the other side of the garage it wouldn't be long before the redheaded mechanic wore her own answers out of the tan furred male anyway. So after a few more seconds' internal debate he went on. "Vin's parents are both a bit of a sore subject for him…His mom in particular."Modo said shifting uncomfortably as he gazed down into Chairs upturned face,watching the curiosity written there shift first to understanding then sympathy. "Oh…did…they die in the war?"She asked hesitantly her voice becoming soft.

Modo looked down and scratched idly at the back of his left wrist as he gathered his thoughts. Truth be told each of them had lost an untold number of family and friends over the course of the fighting and he wasn't sure if there was a even soul left on their planet who hadn't been touched by it and suffered a loss of a loved one, due Directly or indirectly to it. Although the details concerning Vin's Mothers death weren't actually connected to it for a change, but that hadn't really made them any less traumatizing for the young mouse."His dad did…but his Mom actually died in an accident a few years before the start of the fall. When he was about four quarter rotations-"

"Quarter rotations?" Chair interrupted her expression puzzled again."Sorry… a Martian year is actually a little longer than one on earth so ages and things are measured a little differently - Four quarter rotations on mars is the same as four years would be on earth...Modo explained , reaching up to scrub a hand tiredly across the side of his muzzle."Oh…I see." Chair said "What happened to her?" she prompted gently when the large male fell silent again.

"Vins dad was a bit of a hotshot racer back in the day-." He started "Go figure." Chair muttered humorously, earning a small smile from the grey furred male despite the grim topic, before he went on.

"As I said Vins old mouse was a racer-Nothing major no official awards or anything but he had a reputation for pulling off some pretty difficult moves on some of old dirt stripes back on Mars. Most of them airborne in nature earned him a bit of a following and the nickname The Flying Ace. Vin's Mom Storm used to do basic repairs and make adjustments on his bike for him and the other sandtails… and canyon jumpers that liked to race out on the desert backstretches…." He paused trailing off as it occurred to him that,that was probably a bit more info than needed but after a moment he just shrugged it off and went on.

"I don't really know much of the details outside of what I was told later on…but I do know Vin was with her when it happened. He was just a little tyke then and pretty traumatized by it all -Nobody could really get much in the way of anything about it out of him afterwards." He left out the fact that the younger Mouse hadn't actually spoken at all for nearly a full month after it happened. Which for Throttle and Modo (Who new better than most just how unnatural being silent for even a few minutes usually was for him) had been more telling about how distraught the younger mouse really was, then anything he or anyone else could have possibly told them at the time.

Modo's thoughts turned further inwards as the image of Vin's withdrawn state those first few days after WindStorm's death pulled itself to the front of his mind and how the ususually uncontrollable energetic Young mouse had just sat quietly the look in his eyes distant and hollow as he starred at nothing in particular. The memory making grey furred male suddenly wish for something to lash out to relieve the uncomfortable tight feeling that had taken up residence in his limbs. At his own self directed frustration at the slip up on his part. That might have even briefly dredged up that particular bitter memory for his younger bro. Over the years the three of them had seen, experienced, survived and even done things that no one should have to,and somehow come out swinging and joking like always, but even so. There were still a handful of particularly painful areas and topics from all of their lives, that they all tried to steer clear of for each other.

The irritated flick of his tail against the side of the desk was the only outward sign the Martian male gave of his self derision though as he went on "I was only a few rotations older than him, just a Kit myself. So nobody really told me anything about it directly …but from the bits and pieces I overheard. Something went wrong with one of the bikes she was working on at the time…one of the parts ruptured under presser and a piece of it blew out somehow and caught her in the throat…she was gone before anyone really realized what had happened.

Chair cringed, her hand reflexively going to her own neck "…and Vinnie saw all of that?" She said more as a horrified statement than an actual question."Yeah…"Modo confirmed grimly "His old mouse took it pretty hard to, Slipstream was absolutely Crazy about Storm… and he just sort of derailed after that… Couldn't really cope with anything- Let alone taking care of his own kit. As a result Vin spent a good portion of the following year bouncing back and forth between mine and Throttles places." He added gazing off as his mind drifted back over the memories.

Modo honestly only vaguely remembered how the usually playful and Jovial Slipstream had slipped further and further into depression with each day that passed following Storms death,and how nothing any mouse said or did seemed to pull him out of even Stoker had been able to reach him and from what he understood the two of them had almost been as close as actual brothers, but no one and nothing had gotten through to the desolate mouse.

Well no one and nothing-That is until Modo's usually sweet tempered little Grey furred Mama had finally decided enough was enough, and hunted Vin's father down herself at one of the local taverns he'd been frequenting.

Despite the grim subject the Stone furred Martian couldn't help the smile that twitched the edges of his mouth up at the corners, as his mind drifted back to the memory of his Mama pausing to straighten his shirt collar for him before patting his cheek and telling him to wait with Vinnie a moment, Before turning to walk into the particularly unsavory looking establishment they had stopped in front of, as if she was simply running an everyday errand.

Modo had starred after her curiously a moment as she disappeared through the unfamiliar slightly rusted and beat up door watching it swing back and forth curiously for a minute or two before he had gotten bored and glanced away to let his gaze wander around the handful of bikes and vehicles located outside. Absently using his tail to reach out and snag the back of a young Vinnie's belt loop when he started to edge towards one of the larger three wheeled journey bikes favored by some of the locale traders resting near them. The air huffed out of the smaller mouse in a startled woosh as he was jerked to a sudden stop. "Hey! What gives!?" He half whined as he turned to glare over his shoulder in annoyance at the larger kit. "Mama said to wait- 'S,ides you 'member what happened last week when you tried to go for a ride on Stokes bike without him?"Modo asked glancing sideways at the younger white furred male. His words causing the adventurous kit to hesitate as he recalled the event in question. Grimacing he reached around to absently rub at his backside as he apparently remembered the pain of being thrown nearly a full twelve feet straight in the air by the AI driven bike, before landing smack on his tail in the nearest sand dune.

Modo fought back a grin at the action knowing the other kit had only recently reached a point where he could actually sit without flinching. About that time the sound of raised voices followed by bang of the metal door his Mother had disappeared behind only a few short minutes before flew open to slam against the wall drew his and Vin's attention.

As his barley four foot nine, Tiny and demure Mother suddenly reappeared in the doorway dragging the protesting six foot two-Two hundred and twenty pound Slipstream out by the ear behind her as if he was a naughty kit.

releasing the sputtering mouse when they reached the street, Modo's Mother had then quietly turned and stood in place as the much larger male immediately started to grip about the treatment. Her expression seemingly bored she had allowed him to carry on for a minute or two more, before calmly rearing back and punching him squarely in the jaw as hard as she could, while simultaneously whipping out her tail to knock his feet out from under him.

Modo and Vinnie had stared on wide eyed( along with half the street.) As his deceptively dainty looking little grey furred Mama had then followed the action up, by planting her foot squarely in the center of the larger male's chest as he starred up at her in shock. Leaning over him slightly she had then asked in an almost terrifyingly sweet voice -if she had his full attention.-

Giving the rather stunned looking mouse a few seconds to nod his assent, she had then started to talk about, of all things the day Storm discovered she was pregnant with Vinnie, and about how the usually headstrong and self assured female had suffered an attack of nerves at the realization and had shown up at Roses home in a state of panic over how she was going to break the news to him.

It had taken a little bit but once she was able to piece to the situation together from the almost incoherent stream of babble that had been pouring on loop from the distraught younger mouse female since her arrival, Rose had eventually managed to help calm her misplaced fears.

Rose had slowly taken her foot off the large males chest, and finished by telling him, that she had spent the better part of that afternoon personally reassuring WindStorm that he was going to be a good Father, and Unless he wanted her to follow him into every single bar to drag him out by the scruff of the neck for the rest of his damn life. Then he needed to pull his head out of the vicinity of his tail and quite making a liar out of her, because if Storm could see even a third of the Shit he had been pulling, while foisting their son off on whichever random friend or family member he had been able to talk into keeping him since her death it would break her damn heart.

Modo's jaw had dropped and his eyes had nearly popped out of his head, even as Slipstreams own had widened in surprise, because anyone who even vaguely knew anything about his Mama knew that she never swore in any way form or fashion- Ever.

But as shocking as that and the rest of the situation was. It was the following portion of the conversation that had really cemented the whole incident into his young mind. When his Mother brought the death of his own father into the conversation. Something she had done very rarely over the course of his life unless directly prompted.

The young grey furred kits, antennas and ears had both perked up as he took in the sudden shift in his mother's body language and poster as she met Slipstreams gaze. Starring down at him her expression had been almost deceptively at ease except for a slight tightening around her mouth and eyes, her jaw working back and forth for a moment as if she was chewing something particularly unpleasant, before she finally started to speak again her voice dropping down to a barly audble Modo had to strain to pick up.

" I understand better than most what you're going through. When Coal died it felt like somebody went an jerked the dirt right out from under me….It didn't feel real at first and I couldn't wrap my mind around it. Then when it did finally sink in that he was gone. It was like I'd been sucker punched all over again, and part of me just wanted to curl up and die too… but I wasn't the only one he left behind- Rose said her soft voice briefly thickening as she looked back towards were the two Martian kits stood watching them curiously settling briefly on Modo before she turned back to face Slipstream. "I know you miss her… and I know your hurtin—but… you're not the only one who lost her." She murmured blinking rapidly as she trailed off her suddenly glossy looking eyes moving to study the bare patch of dirt between her and the still prone mouse.

Slipstream stared quietly at Rose for a moment more. His own expression oddly blank as his gaze strayed past the now silent Martian female, down to where a young Vinnie was nervously fidgeting next to the older grey furred kit. After a bit the brown furred male had climbed slowly to his feet and made as if he meant to move around the small female, hesitating in place next to her for the barest instant his mouth opend and closed as if searching for something to say. His tail moving marginally in her direction at the same time as if to brush against her leg,but it stopped a centimeter or two away from making actual contact. The Sandstones colored male suddenly wincing as his antenna gave an almost imperceptible twitch,and he immediately dropped it back down again. His jaw clicking shut on whatever he'd been about to say as he glanced away and continued past her. Moving to stand directly in front of where Vinnie apparently bored and uncomfortable with the conversation was absently swirling his tail through the dust on the road.

Drawing zigzags and patterns in the loose silt near his feet, Until Modo jabbed him sharply with his elbow to get his attention, causing the younger kit to rub his side in irritation as he glanced up to scowl at him. Until he became aware of his father standing in front of him his eyes widening in surprise before nervously traveling up to meet the brown furred male's unblinking gaze.

The expression on Slipstreams face had slowly shifted, his eyes briefly narrowing as he starred down at the fidgeting male kit. Who after a second had stopped moving under the close scrutiny and crossed his arms and tipped his head back and jutted his small chin out cockily as he meet his father's gaze. Slipstream had snorted in amusement at the act a reluctant grin curling up the corners of his mouth and a mix of broken hearted pride flashing across his face at the small show of attitude as he carefully studied his son as if he was just seeing him for the very first time.

"Your mother always did say you took right after me…."He murmerd softly pausing as Vinnie uncrossed his arms and starred up at him in confusion. "But I beg to differ." He went on his lips twisting up in a wry smile even as his voice deepened slightly. "That attitude right there—that's all her." he added with small laugh reaching out to ruffle the baffled Vinnie's ears who had wrinkled his nose at the action before glancing over at Modo. Who had merely shrugged back at him in equal confusion chalking the whole thing up to just more grown up weirdness. "Ook?" Vinnie said still puzzled and feeling a bit as if he was missing something. Whatever confusion he was currently feeling cleared quickly however when the wind shifted slightly in their direction. Carrying the scent of fresh seared Saber squid towards them and causing the young mouse's nose to Visibly twitch as he glanced in the direction of the nearby food vender stalls. Never one to pass up an opportunity to eat when it presented itself Vin had immediately pushed the whole odd situation with his Dad and Modo's Mom's to the back of his thoughts as something to puzzle over at a later time. "Can we eat?".He blurted looking back up at his father. The abrupt shift in topic causing a startled laugh to break from the larger brown furred male as he straightened back up. "Guess I really can't expect you to understand all of this at your age." he muttered under his breath his expression twisting up into amused disbelief as he looked up towards the clear expanse of the Martian sky. "Yeah we can eat." he replied ruefully reaching up to rub at the back of his head then glancing back over his shoulder towards where Rose stood waiting "That bottomless appetite of his is definitely all yours" She said wryly the grin that twisted up her own mouth still holding a edge of sadness to it, even as she shook her head in exasperation. "I think I can add a few more mouths to the bill, Since I'm the reasons everyone's tails are out here at this hour. That is- If you're willing?"Slipstream murmured stiffly the awkward way he held his body, betraying his discomfort at the underlying tension that was still between them. Dropping his arm back down, he tipped his head questioningly in Roses's direction.

Rose snorted softly her ears giving an almost imperceptible twitch of amusement. "I'll accept that offer,but You can think again. If you're of a mind that you can just buy your way back into my good graces with a few cubes of charred meat."She added gesturing for an equally hungry Modo to precede her as they followed the brown furred male over to one of the stalls.

It hadn't really been an immediate or easy change, but something his Grey furred Mama said must have gotten through to Vin's father because that day had marked a significant shift in Slipstreams behavior and relationship with Vinnie. Unfortunately they still hadn't had much in the way of time together only a few rotations really. Seeing as this had happened right before the growing influx in fighting in the War against Plutark had forced the Martian army to put out a call for reserves, but in the short time leading up to his reenlistment. Slipstream did take a more active interest in his son. Although once his father left to join the fighting, Vin had still ended up alternately staying with him and Throttle again. Whenever the older brown furred male was deployed, But Slipstream had made a point to make regular contact and check up on him, whenever possible…right up until the day before his entire platoon was listed as casualties of an accidental equipment malfunction with a tetra-hydra carbine canon.

\- Of course by that point there had been to many supposed equipment malfunctions for anyone with any sense to believe it, but it wouldn't be revealed for nearly a week after the start of the fall that Slipstreams unite had actually been some of the first victims of a new type of incineratory bomb that had all the power and radius of a nuke but none of the less then desirable effects on the soil a nuclear blast would leave, as it only affected organic matter.

Just one had been able to clear over half a city nearly instantaneously,leaving few to no survivors in its wake. Nightmarishly devastating they were simply given the label Death flashes by the Martian army and populace… because all you ever saw was a bright flash of light and it was over.

Modo had never witnessed it himself, but there had even been stories of mice stumbling upon the perfectly preserved ash silhouettes of some of the casualties near the center of the drop points, locked in their last moments. Families huddled together in corners and under tables; Mother's reaching for their children and Fathers desperately trying to shield loved ones from the unstoppable wave.

The only saving grace was that the ingredients to create the bombs had come almost exclusively from one particular asteroid cluster that the mice had managed to take out, before the majority of Mars's existing Space craft's had been destroyed. It hadn't been enough to stop the worst of the destruction, but it had at least put a halt to the mass genocides that had been caused by the innocuous looking charges.

A light touch brushing gently against the back of his non-mechanical hand had Modo jerking in surprise before glancing down sharply to stare almost uncomprehendingly at the small pink digits lightly resting against the backs of his own. Feeling slightly muddled he realized he must have gotten lost in his own thoughts and memories at some point during the conversation and had stopped talking.

He slowly blinked and tried to reorganize his scattered train of thought, as his troubled gaze met Chair's reassuring one "I'm sure Vinnie knows you didn't mean to bring up a painful memory. Besides-you three are too close to let something like this drive a wedge in-between you." She said oblivious to the bleak path his thoughts had taken, as she threaded her much smaller fingers through his. "Come on." She added giving his hand a gentle tug and gesturing with her head towards the Garages living quarters. "Charlie cooked breakfast today so I figure it's only fair I make lunch and I could use an extra pair of hands to help me.""Hand's huh?...That really all you need me for?" Modo joked weakly, trying to push the grim memories from his mind, and focus his attention fully on the female before him.

"Weeelllll…" Chair drawled. Exaggeratedly tapping one of the fingers from her bandaged hand against her chin. "I suppose you could bring the rest of you too" She finished with an emperies flourish of her hand in his direction, a grin breaking across her face as she scrunched her nose and fought not to laugh.

Modo chuckled softly at her and reached out to carefully capture the gauze wrapped limb, gently bringing it up so he could examine a frayed strand dangling from the side of it. "Alright but first let's see about getting this changed."He said moving his grip down her arm to pull her towards him, settling her against his side as he placed his hand in the small of her back to guide her towards the small nook where the first-aid kit was stored.

Chair blinked up at him in surprise as they headed in the direction of the little alcove. "oh…I'm not sure that's necessary . I mean we just put it on yesterday…so-uh…" She trailed off as they reached their destination and he gently but firmly nudged her towards the stool next to a small work table, before turning to snag the kit off the shelf it was located on. "Well I am." He said his voice rumbling softly as he turned back around and to her surprise carefully lifted her up onto the table before taking a seat on the stool himself. "Even small burns can get infected easily and the dressings need to be changed regularly."

Startled at suddenly being lifted up as if she was a small child, Chair wrinkled her nose slightly as she starred at him from her new vantage point,and Watched as he bent down to rummage in the kit, lining his antenna up eye level with her. Her fingers twitched involuntarily as she watched the bobbing red appendages with a growing sense of déjà vu. "Modo?" She started drawing the grey furred males attention."Hmm?" he hummed without glancing up from the tub of antibiotic ointment he had just pulled from the kit."Just how sensitive are your antennas? she asked glancing briefly back up at them.

Taken a bit off guard Modo paused. "Huh? " He blurted looking back up to blink owlishly at the small curvy female perched on the table in front of him."well you mentioned before that they were sensitive and, I was wondering if it hurts if someone touches them?...or I guess what I'm really asking is if I hurt you…before?" Chair babbled nervously as he continued to stare at her with mild bewilderment.

The confusion on his face clearing Modo gave a low chuckle and went back to studying the tube in his hand. " No you didn't hurt me-and short of backing over me with that truck of yours. I really don't think you could." He said His voice rumbling with humor. "You just… caught me a bit by surprise that day was all. They do have a lot of nerves in em' and they're pretty sensitive, but when I brought that up before it had more to do with how much more we can actually pick up when there's direct contact with that particular part of us and another person. On Mars With the exception and necessity of a quick information share like Throttle did with you and Charley Ma'am, that kind of contact is usually sort of reserved for close clan mates or couples." He answered distractedly, glancing back down at the tube to make sure it was the one he needed. His mouth slowly moving while Squinted at the ant sized lettering scrawled along the side in annoyance.

In most ways he had adjusted fairly quickly to the absence of his left eye managing to compensate for the difference in his depth perception when aiming in battles. And with the exception of when something happened to draw direct attention to it, or when he had to remove his eye patch to clean the socket beneath it he really hardly ever thought about it anymore—Except when it came to reading fine print of any particular type. The fact that what he was currently trying to make out was in another language, just made it that much more of a pain for him. Reassured that he had the right one Modo went back to rummaging in the kit for the gauze. He probably should have been expecting her next question but once more the little earth female still managed to catch him by surprise.

"Couples huh? So… does that mean it would technically be ok if I touched them now?" she asked watching as the Martian male jerked slightly and fumbled the kit nearly dropping it as the plastic box slipped from his mechanical hand. A few of the band aids flutterd out before before he managed to snag it with his tail. The whip like appendage reflexively wrapping around it and snapping the lid shut, as the large male refocused his startled gaze back on Chair once more"I uh..- I guess-" he stammered as he regarded her a moment, clearing his throat. "if you want to …"he finished sounding a little more like his usual self.

Despite his permissive response, The large males slight stammer coupled with the wide eyed stare he'd shot her way when she'd first asked had Chair thinking that there was a bit more to the whole thing then what the stone furred male was letting on… but now that the opportunity to satisfy some of her personal curiosity had finally presented itself again she couldn't really bring herself to pass it up.

Besides they'd already kissed. Heck! for that matter. They'd both been a little less than a step away from checking each other's teeth for cavities, with her climbing halfway up him like a furry tree while they were at it, so really?So How much more intimate could just touching one of his antenna's really be? She wondered as her gaze strayed from the Martian males wide eyed stare back up to the two bobbing appendages sprouting from the top of his skull.

(Still maybe I should wait?) She thought distractedly as she watched one of the cherry red extremities twitch under her close scrutiny, but her hand was already in the process of reaching up to touch it even before the thought had completely passed through her mind.

Still a sudden hitch in the large males breathing had her hesitating right before the tip of her finger made contact. Freezing Chair's hand hovered in place as her gaze once more returned to his, but she was unable to judge by his current expression alone if he was truly comfortable or not.

as if sensing her internal debate Modo narrowed his eye at her thoughtfully a moment, before he moved down the last bit himself, Bringing the top of the red appendage into full contact with her waiting fingers a second before she went to pull her hand back.

Chair fought the initial urge she experienced to snatch her hand back in surprise, but her own natural curiosity quickly overrode the knee jerk reaction, as she slowly began to run her fingers down the side of the pencil thick extremity.

The first thing she really took notice of was how unusually smooth the texture of the skin felt, as she drug the pad of her finger along the underside of it, making her think of an odd blend somewhere between wax paper and leather. The second was how much warmer than the rest of him it was. The heat radiating from it increasing as she trailed her fingers down it, Becoming almost feverishly hot as she neared the base where it connected to his skull. She wondered absently if the heat had something to do with the lack of fur, and unbidden her mind strayed towards what other parts of the Martian male were likely to be void of fur and warm to the touch.

Almost as soon as the hazy thought had taken form both of Modo's antenna's twitched in a violent spasm, his cheeks visibly pinkening through his fur, as he immediately reached up to tug her hand back down.

Embarrassed and wondering exactly just how much of that particular stray thought he had been able to pickup through the contact. Chair started to apologize only to have the words die a quick death before they could fully form as Modo's gaze locked with hers, and a frission of sexual awareness traveled the length of her spine at the look that had appeared on the Grey furred males' face, the heated sensation twisting and coiling around to pool lower in her abdomen. Any expectation she might of even remotely held of the Martian male being flustered or disconcerted by what he had likely just read from her flew out the window at the expression on his face. And the edge of hunger and longing etched on it as he stared steadily back at her. His thumb gently tracing a path across the back of her wrist, that had the nerves along that particular small stretch of skin taking notice in a way they never had previously. The silence between them stretched on for what felt like an almost endless moment, before the large male cleared his throat once more and glanced to the side allowing her to tug her hand free of his grip.

"Lets see about finishing getting that hand taken care of and re-bandaged." he rasped huskily grabbing the tub of ointment and quickly uncapping it. Chair suppressed a wince as he the preceded to unwrap and clean the small strip of blistered flesh along her right hand, a part of her relieved despite the stinging discomfort to have something else to focus on momentarily.

Modo unwound a decent sized length of the bandage. Absently using his teeth to quickly sever the white strip of cloth, before rapidly starting to rewrap the burn on Chair's hand. "Sorry force of habit from field dressing"He murmured sheepishly, Noticing the startled expression that appeared on the blond females face at the action. Chair blinked a bit in surprise but other wise took the answer in stride. Nodding with out comment as she watched him continue to wrap her injured limb in record time. Finished with his task the grey furred male took a small step as Chair tested out his 'Handy'work. Chuckling internally to himself at his own mental pun, he paused as a thought came to him.

"Lets do something fun together tomorrow, just you and me." He suddenly asked watching as she flexed her hand experimentally in the new dressing.

Chair wobbled slightly on edge of the counter as she turned towards him in surprise at the statement. "S-Sure-I mean-Of course! I'd love that!"

"Great."He answerd with a grin,reaching out and placing his hands on her waist to steady her. "I'll talk with Charley and see about getting you a little time off."Modo's heart jumped in his chest a bit at the Smile that spread across the smaller females face at his suggestion.

"That sounds perfect. I'd love to!"Chair exclaimed (Wow! I can't actually remember the last time I went on a date- Crap! What should I wear?) She thought giving an excited bounce. The action causing the stone furred male to laugh as he lifted her down from the counter before she could take a tumble off of it. "Alright" he murmured with a low chuckle. Bending down to nuzzle against the top of her head enjoying the slightly sweet tangy smell he now knew was the green apple scented Shampoo she favored , mixed with her own scent, before pulling back to lean his forehead against hers. "Six sound Ok?" He asked While looking into her eyes."Uh?...Oh! sure. I mean of course. That woul-" Chair started distractedly by the grey furred males close proximity. Subcouncisely leaning in slightly in anticipation of a possible kiss her head tipped back as she went up on tiptoe, Only to trail off into a startled sputter as Modo suddenly straightened back up, and went on absently, Apparently not noticing. " 'Course six might be a bit to late to be head'en out. We really out to probably go around three…"

"uh-well six sounds fine to me-but if you want to go sooner-"Chair started again only to pause as it occurred to her that she had no idea where or what exactly the Martian male had in mind."Well if you think you'd prefer six" Modo commented distractedly,as he mentally began going over the list of items he was going to need to pick up for the next day.

"Wait? Where are we-…" Chair broke off as her inquiry was suddenly cut short by an excited yell from Vinnie reverberating through the garage "Hey! You slow pokes get your tails out here! I just saw a handful of limburgers Lackeys ride by and on top of reak of fish I smell some action!"

Modo tried to tamp down on the flare of frustration that struck him at yet another interruption from the White furred male, to his and Chair's time together. (I'm starting to sense a reoccurring theme here) He thought in annoyance , but on the plus side he was at least relieved to hear his younger bro seemingly back to his usual brash self. "Sorry Darlin duty calls." He said a note of apology entering his voice, as he reached for his helmet,Trying to suppress the disappointment he felt at having to leave out again, so soon after just returning. "I understand" Chair said with a rueful smile of her own. "Be safe out there ok?"She added the smile slowly melting from her face, and a touch of concern creeping into her gaze to take its place, as she reached out to gently touch the back of his mechanical hand.

Halting it before he could finish raising his helmet up to put it on. Modo took in the distinct contrast between her smaller flesh hand against the hard angles and blocky lines of the much larger expanse of his metal one. His heart fluttering slightly in his chest at the complete lack of thought she seemed to give the action. Showing no reaction or discomfort at the feel of the cool metal against her skin, and touching it just as nonchalantly as she did his left one."Don't worry Lil darlin. I've got a good deal of experience when it comes to this Hero stuff" he answered swallowing down the odd lump that had suddenly appeared in his throat at the simple action,Grinning reassuringly he settled his helmet back into place,and turned to once more head across the garage towards where Lil Hoss was parked.

"Those that say there's no rest for the wicked, should try 'bein the Hero for a change" He muttered under his breath as he glanced wistfully back over his shoulder, for one more quick glimpse of the short blond haired female, before he pulled back out to do his part in protecting the people of Chicago, and earth from a threat they didn't even know was there.


End file.
